All or Nothing
by NaruSasuNaruLover
Summary: They thought all of the drama was finally over, but eight years later it once again arises. Between break-ups, betrayal, love, and Orochimaru, drama is inevitable. In the end will love conquer all or will everything fall apart? NaruSasu and many other couples Lights Out sequel
1. Our Kind of Love

**Okay, so ever since Lights Out I've kind of wanted to write a sequel because I didn't like how I ended things with Orochimaru so here it is…**

**This first chapter is just an introductory chapter as to what's going on in each of the characters lives – or at least most of them…it kind of sets the scene for everything else – a fluff chapter to start off before all the drama happens and there is quite a bit of drama…**

**The title came from a Theory of a Deadman song that I thought worked…**

**I'm giving shout outs to anyone that can name the band the song from each chapter is named after – I'll be really surprised if anyone can get every single one without looking it up…hint for this one: country **

**As always I own nothing regarding Naruto or it's characters…**

**Chapter one: Our Kind of Love**

The alarm went off early in the morning, signaling it was time to wake up. The dark curtains in the room blocked out much of the sun, making it even harder for Naruto to wake up. The warmth of the body next to him also made it difficult to leave the bed, if it were his choice he'd stay in bed all day with his lover. Before he could even think to hit the snooze button and curl back up with Sasuke, the dark haired man turned off the alarm and sat up. "It's time to wake up moron," his lover said, giving him a little push.

"Such a nice way to wake me up babe," Naruto replied as he rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. It never ceased to amaze him that even after eight years he could still get that same feeling every time he looked at Sasuke. He loved the man unconditionally and he knew Sasuke felt the same; Sasuke had a look that he only directed toward Naruto and that spoke volumes. "Lay back down, just for ten minutes," he whined, trying to pull Sasuke back to him.

"You know that I can't," Sasuke responded as he got out of bed, "if I'm late Itachi will kill me." He had started working at the Uchiha Corporation soon after graduating; he and his brother had taken it over and were running it smoothly with the occasional help of Kakashi. "I have a meeting this morning," he reminded him, though secretly wished he could just go back to bed.

"We could at least shower together," Naruto suggestively smiled. "It'd be fun," he had a lecherous grin on his face to which Sasuke just shook his head. "Please," he said as he sat up in bed watching his half naked boyfriend walk toward the bathroom.

Sasuke looked back at him as he headed for the shower, "Well, are you coming?" He didn't need to say anything else; Naruto was quickly out of bed and pushing him toward the shower. The blond started kissing him, making Sasuke moan when he was pushed up against the shower wall, "You know most people take their clothes off before getting into the shower."

"Well, then I guess we must do so," Naruto smiled as he undressed himself and Sasuke before pulling them into the shower. He turned on the water and quickly pulled Sasuke back into their heated kiss. "You might be late for work," Naruto told him huskily; he knew that he should, but Sasuke couldn't complain.

**NS**

Kisame walked into Itachi's office, "I thought you had a meeting this morning." He leaned against the desk as he looked at his lover, "Were you lying to me?"

"No, I do," he replied as he relaxed back into his chair. "I just told Sasuke it was a half hour earlier than it truly is," he shrugged. His brother was usually punctual, however Naruto sometimes got the best of him so he started to tell Sasuke every early morning meeting was set earlier than it truly was. "I still have to be here though in case he really does show up on time," Itachi said, knowing his brother too well.

"Well, then I guess you've got some time to kill," he said, a slightly perverted grin on his face. Itachi just rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Come on we've done it here before."

"And I thought that'd get it out of your system," he told him as he went back to his stack of papers. "Also my brother could walk in at any moment. As fun as it is to mess with him, I think we traumatized him enough last time," he told him as he heard Kisame say something along the lines of "stupid brother" under his breath. Itachi just chuckled before going back to his work.

**NS**

Neji and Gaara had long forgotten about the television program they'd been watching. The world around them was tuned out as they sat on their couch passionately kissing. Hinata turned a dark shade of red as she walked into the apartment, highly embarrassed. She cleared her throat, causing them to pull away.

"Sorry for interrupting," she muttered, looking at the ground. Neji quickly tried to fix his disheveled appearance, which made Gaara smirk.

"Why are you here?" Neji asked, trying not to sound rude, but frustrated by the interruption. What was even more annoying was the fact that Gaara seemed to take pleasure in seeing his frustration build.

"You, um, called me a hour ago," she reminded him. "You said there was something we needed to talk about," Hinata added as she looked at the ground. She was still highly embarrassed for walking in on such a scene. "I should have knocked," she bit her lip before looking up at him again.

"It's fine," he told her, knowing that he should have remembered their conversation. "Honestly I can't even remember why I called you," he said, which was even more embarrassing.

"Oh," she said. She'd never felt so awkward in her life. "I guess," she paused trying to find the right words, "you can call me if you remember." Hinata wanted to run out of the apartment, knowing that she was probably as red as a tomato. He just nodded and she excused herself. The part of her that wasn't embarrassed was wishing that she had that kind of relationship rather than just being single.

It wasn't often that Gaara laughed but when Hinata left he couldn't help it. "It's not funny," Neji said, but the red head ignored his words. "Shut up," he mumbled, hating the situation that'd just occurred. Gaara didn't say anymore, instead decided to pick up where they left off and kissed him again and Hinata's interruption was quickly forgotten.

**NS**

Kyuubi and Shukaku were making out on their bed. The battle for dominance was fierce, neither one of them willing to give into the other. Kyuubi was ready to throw his phone across the room as he heard Naruto's ringtone start to play. "Just ignore it," he told Shukaku as he pulled off his shirt.

They both tried but with no luck as it kept ringing. "What?" Kyuubi finally answered, annoyed by the interruption. "This better be good," he told him in a voice that threatened death if it weren't.

"You can make out with your boyfriend any time," Naruto told him, knowing exactly what would make him angry. "I called because Itachi is calling Sasuke for him to have me find out why Shukaku isn't at work and isn't answering his phone," he informed him. "But now I think I know why," he laughed, which only annoyed Kyuubi more.

"He'll be there in a little bit, tell Itachi to calm down," he replied, knowing that telling Itachi to calm down probably wouldn't result well for that person. "We just woke up late," he lied as he looked at the smirk on Shukaku's face. "Bye," he quickly hung up.

"I guess this is to be continued," Shukaku said as he sat up to get ready. Kyuubi, who just wanted to go back to kissing, pulled him back and he hoped it would lead to more. "I said to be continued," he said as he pulled his hand away, loving the annoyed reaction he'd gotten from his lover.

"Stupid Naruto," Kyuubi growled as he got up, knowing that he had to get to work as well. "This isn't over," he told the other man, but the only response he got was a chuckle.

**NS**

Sakura and Ino were out shopping for dresses. They'd taken the morning off because they'd planned a double date for later that night and wanted to make sure everything was perfect. "This is going to be so much fun, we haven't done this in what feels like forever," Sakura said as she looked through a rack of pink dresses.

"I know," Ino smiled as she looked at a purple dress. "It's been too long," she said, holding the dress up to herself to get an idea of what it'd look like on her. "I just hope that this helps me and Sai," she frowned, thinking about their relationship.

"I didn't know something was wrong," the pink haired girl said, turning her attention to her best friend. "What's going on?" she was concerned.

"It's just," she tried to find the right words to describe it, "it seems like we've given up so much to be together and it feels like it's going nowhere." She saw that Sakura wanted more of an explanation, "He's practically given up painting and I think it's because of me. I've given up a lot too, but it feels like there is no end result." She wasn't really sure how to explain it fully until she looked at the diamond on Sakura's finger, "You're engaged and really happy, Lee has never made you feel like you need to change something. Sai's never forced me to give something up, but it feels like we are."

Sakura nodded, understanding her friend's concern. She had been engaged for a little over a year, while Ino had no indication that it'd be happening any time soon for her. "Tonight we'll make sure he remembers why he fell in love with you," she promised. "And maybe you could give him some inspiration," she said suggestively, which only made Ino laugh.

"I guess you're right," Ino smiled. "Who knows what life with throw at us, maybe tonight will make everything better," she said. She knew that life may not be perfect, but she was happy. She didn't know what was in store for her in her friends.

**TBC…**

**What do you think? Should I continue? Let me know :)**

**You'll notice a certain couple wasn't mentioned this chapter, you'll find out why in the next one…this is just a fluff introductory chapter, the next one is when everything will start…**

**I'm not sure how long it will take me to update this each chapter, but I do know I'll finish it and there will be about 26 chapters – even if it gets longer I know it won't be anywhere near the 57 chapters it's predecessor had…**


	2. More Than I Should

**It's funny the next couple chapters are all inspired by country songs but I don't even listen to that many country artists - Last chapter was from Lady Antebellum this one is from Hunter Hayes…**

**Let me know what you think because reviews are appreciated – shout out to everyone that reviewed, you guys rock!**

**I own nothing regarding Naruto or it's characters **

**Chapter 2: More Than I Should **

Naruto and Sasuke were enjoying a morning of sleeping in; it was raining out which made it the perfect day to relax and do nothing all day. Sasuke was truly happy as he laid his head on his boyfriend's chest, not having to worry about anything since it was a Saturday and even Uchiha's took the weekends off. "I know you're awake babe," Naruto said as he ran his fingers trough the mess of hair on Sasuke's head.

"I'm trying not to be," Sasuke said, not moving from his spot. His eyes were still closed and he was too tired to yell at Naruto for calling him "babe." He could feel Naruto laugh at his words and said, "Go back to sleep, _babe_." His annoyance emphasized in the last word.

"I think the nickname is growing on you," Naruto said with a smile. Sasuke looked up at him with a glare, but that no longer affected the blond and they both knew it. "I love you," he told the dark haired man; which made Sasuke immediately sit up, "but we need to get up."

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, suspicious of what could make Naruto want to get out of bed. "Whenever you randomly say I love you it usually isn't good," there were times when Naruto was just trying to be romantic, but usually when it was random he was going to tell Sasuke something he didn't want to hear.

"Okay, you caught me," Naruto said with a sigh. "Kiba and Aimi are coming over today," he told Sasuke, knowing the other man wouldn't be happy. Sasuke silently got out of bed, "Come on; please don't be mad." He didn't dare add the word "babe" into the sentence, Sasuke was already pissed off at him; he didn't need to add the overused and cliché endearment that Sasuke hated.

"How can you still be friends with that asshole?" Sasuke asked angrily. He and Kiba were never best friends, but after what he did to Suigetsu Sasuke hated him. Before they could easily tolerate each other, but after everything that happened four years ago Sasuke couldn't stand him. "He broke Suigetsu's heart," he told him, which Naruto knew was true, "and then he went and hooked up with that bitch Aimi."

"Aimi is a nice girl and you know it," he said with a sigh, sitting up. "You were fine with her when we were working for her father in college," he pointed out, which only made him earn the one glare that Sasuke gave him that scared him. It wasn't a look that he often used, but he knew to shut up when he did. If looks could kill then Naruto would be dead in that moment.

"She's so nice that she swooped in and convinced Kiba that his 'gayness' was just a phase," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm going to Suigetsu's, let me know when that ass wipe is gone," he said as he grabbed clothes out of their shared closet.

"It wasn't just her, it was his family too," Naruto reminded him. "I mean how would you feel if your parents were mad because you are gay?" he asked, though after he said it he realized that brining Sasuke's parents into the mix probably wasn't his smartest idea.

"Yeah because everything in my childhood home screams that my mother would have hated me for being gay," Sasuke said sarcastically. In college he and his brother had managed to get the Uchiha manor back from Orochimaru, a judge agreed with them that it truly belonged to the Uchiha's and therefore it was their decision on who could and couldn't live in the house. Neither of them took the house but it was still there and had been restored from the dark aura that Orochimaru had created.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I know that your parents were better than that," Naruto frowned, "but please don't be mad at me." He walked over and put his arms around Sasuke from behind only to be pushed away.

"Then don't bring up anything that reminds me of my parents or that jackass Orochimaru," he told him, pushing past so that he could get out of the closet. He didn't like to think of it even though Orochimaru had for the most part been out of his life for the past eight years.

"Someone favors the word ass this morning," Naruto mumbled, hoping that Sasuke didn't hear him. By the look he received he knew that the dark haired man did hear him, "I'm sorry, it's just frustrating that my best friend and my boyfriend can't act civilly toward each other." He sat down on the bed again, just wanting the fight to end.

"Then get off your _ass_ and tell him not to come over," Sasuke said. When Naruto didn't make a move for the phone Sasuke got changed and said, "I'm going to Suigetsu's." Naruto chose not to say anything, not wanting to start another fight. He heard the door slam and tried to think of a way to make it so Sasuke would realize just how stupid the fight was. He knew that Suigetsu meant a lot to Sasuke, he'd been there for him through everything and so he knew it probably was stupid to try to make him like, or at least tolerate, Kiba. He also knew that doing that would take a lot of work and he'd have to make up with Sasuke before he could manage to get Sasuke and Kiba tolerate each other, and if he were lucky maybe he could get Kiba and Suigetsu talking again.

**Flashback**

"It's okay Kiba," Aimi told him as she comforted him. He knew that what he was about to do would probably make him some enemies, namely that of Sasuke Uchiha. "He'll understand eventually," she promised, but Kiba doubted it.

"What do I tell him?" he asked, not sure how to go about dumping the man that he thought he'd loved for the past four years. He'd convinced himself that Aimi and his family was right, it had just been curiosity and when college was over he should grow up and realize that.

"Just be honest, he should understand your feelings," she said. She appeared to have no other motives, after all she'd accepted the fact that Naruto and Sasuke were in love, there was no reason for her not to accept him if he were truly gay. If he were truly gay then he figured he wouldn't be questioning himself. She had convinced him that he wasn't even bisexual, but rather just straight and confused.

"I guess," he said, hating the idea that he would be breaking his best friend's heart. Aside from Naruto, Suigetsu had become his best friend ever since the first semester of college. He was convinced that he was just confusing brotherly love for romantic love and that it was only fair to break things off with Suigetsu.

Suigetsu thought he was meeting Kiba for a date. It was a cold December night, not one for walking, but there he was walking to meet Kiba because the snow was too high for driving. "Hey," he smiled as he walked up to Kiba, but when he saw the small frown on the other man's face he asked, "what's wrong?"

"We need to talk," he said and the smile from Suigetsu's face quickly faded. "We've had a lot of fun together, but I realized that maybe it was more as friends than as boyfriends," he told him, making Suigetsu's heart turn as cold as the winter night. "I thought I was gay, but I've realized it was just a phase, that we were never meant to be anything but friends," he said, hating the look on his now ex-boyfriend's face. "I hope we can still be friends," he said as he reached for the other man, only to be pushed away. "

"Don't touch me," he said coldly. "You can't just break up with me and expect that I'm going to be your best friend," he said as he took a step back, "go to hell." He was trying to stay strong, not wanting to let himself cry, but it was difficult considering he felt as if his heart had just been ripped out of his chest and stepped upon. "Don't even talk to me," he told him. He looked behind him to a table in front of the coffee shop they were in front of and saw Aimi, "Trust me, I know what's going on here." He signaled toward Aimi, "I'm not stupid."

Before Kiba could say anything Suigetsu quickly walked away, trying stay together. He knew where he was going, knowing that he could talk to Sasuke. He heard Kiba call out to him, hoping to be friends still, but he just kept walking away. He could feel tears fall down his cheeks as he walked; refusing to look back at the man he thought had loved him.

When he'd told Sasuke what'd happened the man was ready to bash Kiba's face in. He'd always been protective of his friends and when the one person that had always been there for him was hurt he was livid. "I'm going to kill him," Sasuke hissed as he stood up, only to be pulled back down by Suigetsu.

"He's not worth it," Suigetsu weakly said. Sasuke probably would have killed him, or at least hurt him, had Suigetsu and Naruto not have been there to stop him and reason with him. From that moment on Sasuke truly hated Kiba and Aimi even if Naruto couldn't bring himself to hate his best friend. It was obvious to everyone that Suigetsu loved and trusted Kiba more than he should have.

**End Flashback**

It wasn't long before Kiba and Aimi showed up and Naruto and Sasuke's place, "Hey guys." Naruto had understood why Kiba broke up with Suigetsu, even though he didn't think it was right, he knew how many people had told him that he was confused. He thought that Kiba was just trying to please everyone else, ignoring his own feelings. It made his parents happy and he thought that he was happy too, even though Naruto could tell he wasn't nearly as happy with Aimi as he had been with Suigetsu.

"Hey," Kiba smiled as he and Aimi walked into the house. "Where's Sasuke?" he asked, knowing that the man probably left once he found out he was coming over. He knew that Sasuke hated him and he understood why.

"He just had some errands to run," Naruto lied, trying not to let Kiba know that Sasuke really did hate him. Once Kiba gave him a look, obviously not believing him, "Okay he went to Suigetsu's place." Kiba nodded and he quickly added, "But it has nothing to do with you two coming over."

"You don't have to lie to me Naruto," Kiba told him. "I know that Sasuke hates me," he said as he walked further into the house.

"He doesn't _hate_ you," Naruto again lied. "Maybe strongly dislikes you," he thought it made it sound better than hate, "but not hate." Again Kiba didn't believe him, "Its just Suigetsu is his best friend."

"I think that he hates me as much as he hates Orochimaru," he said, knowing that is a lot of hate. Aimi gave him a confused glance, "Don't worry about it honey." He knew that telling anyone about Orochimaru would get him killed by Sasuke and that he was lucky he didn't kill him when he broke up with Suigetsu. She just nodded at let herself be clueless.

"I don't think he hates anyone as much as he hates that snake," Naruto turned serious. "Let's just not think about it," he decided to change the subject. He wasn't going to mention the fact Sasuke had wanted to kill him when he'd found out, nor about the fight that he and Sasuke had that morning.

**NS**

When Sasuke came home that night Naruto greeted him with a kiss, which the dark haired man didn't return. "Come on you can't be mad at me forever," Naruto said as he held Sasuke in his arms. "Please, you know that you love me," the blond pouted.

"Stop acting like child," Sasuke sighed, though had small smile on his face. He gave him a chaste kiss and said, "Just stop bringing that annoyance around here, that was the third time this week." He pulled away from Naruto's embrace and went to the refrigerator.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I know how much you dislike him," the blond leaned against the counter as he smiled at his boyfriend. Sasuke could never stay mad at him for very long. They had plenty of small fights but they never lasted long and never escalated further; it was just the way they were. Fighting has always been a part of their odd relationship and it worked for them.

"I'm tired, let's go to bed," Sasuke said as he shut the refrigerator and walked toward the bedroom. He was disappointed that he couldn't find anything good to eat, but too tired to really care.

"Do we really have to sleep?" Naruto asked suggestively. He knew make-up sex was the best kind of sex.

"No," Sasuke said nonchalantly. When he saw the excited look on Naruto's face, he took off his shirt and said, "We can watch TV instead." He saw the disappointed look on Naruto's face and chuckled, "Are you coming _babe_?" All Naruto could think about was how much of a tease Sasuke was, but followed him anyway.

**TBC…**

**Now you know what happened with Suigetsu and Kiba…I know a lot of you liked the relationship between the two but please don't hate me or Kiba…**

**Like it? Hate it? Let me know…**


	3. Ready to Love

**Thanks to everyone that reviewed I really do appreciate it – No matter how many stories I write I can't seem to get used to people liking my writing :) **

**I'm trying to put at least some NaruSasu moments in every chapter right now but it may not say as happy as it is right now for them…**

**This may seem like it's concentrating on Suigetsu and Kiba but I promise there will be more about Naruto and Sasuke in future chapters…**

**This chapter is inspired by a Lady Antebellum song – I originally had something else planned but this came to mind and so I changed some things – let me know what you think**

**As always, I own nothing regarding Naruto or it's characters **

**Chapter 3: Ready to Love**

Kiba looked across the table at Naruto as they sat in a small diner. It was noon on Sunday and the place was somewhat deserted with only a few people at other tables. "What did you want to talk about?" he asked. He knew that Sasuke was the reason that they met at a diner instead of Naruto's house, but the blond never told him what he wanted to talk about.

"It's about Sasuke," Naruto told him, suddenly feeling nervous. It had been a long time since the blond seemed nervous when talking about his boyfriend so Kiba was confused.

"I thought that after you finally started dating him we weren't going to have to talk about him so much," Kiba said, not wanting to talk about the dark haired man. Sasuke didn't like him; so there was no reason for him to care about him. He did want to know why the blond was nervous, but part of him didn't care since it was dealing with Sasuke.

"Shut up," Naruto said, annoyed by his friend's comment. "I," he started, not sure how to talk about it with Kiba but knowing that he had to talk to someone, "I want to ask him to marry me." Kiba's eyes widened as he looked at Naruto. "I love him and we've been together for so long it just feels right to take that next step," he explained, hoping for a positive response.

"That is a bad idea," Kiba told him, truly believing that if he asked then he'd end up getting his heart broken. "Sasuke doesn't really seem like the type that'd want to get married," he told him, worried that his friend was making a mistake. He already didn't like Sasuke all that much, the thought of Naruto marrying him was worse.

"You just don't like Sasuke," Naruto sighed. "Really can't you guys just get passed this? Ever since he cussed you out and punched you for breaking up with Suigetsu you guys hate each other. It's in the past, just get over it," he said wanting his best friend and boyfriend to get along.

"He punched me, I had a black eye for over a week," Kiba growled as he remembered that night. "I know he's protective and all but that fucker went overboard," he told him; bitter that Sasuke actually could beat him in a fight.

"That fucker is my boyfriend and hopefully someday my husband, he's not going anywhere," he said, causing Kiba to roll his eyes. "And really you should just be happy that he stopped with one punch," he added with a laugh, "he wanted to do a lot worse."

"So comforting," Kiba replied sarcastically. "Seriously though, I don't think it's a good idea and not just because I don't like him," he told his best friend, who looked hurt by his words. "You guys are happy, just leave it at that," he suggested.

"Exactly, we're happy, how would marriage change that?" he asked, thinking that it was the best idea he's ever had. "He's been through much and it feels like he's finally put most of it behind him. We've been through a lot together, it's been eight years already, I feel kind of stupid not having proposed to him yet," he told his best friend. "I love him, he loves me, where could it go wrong?" he asked.

"Have you guys even talked about the possibility of marriage?" he asked, "Has he ever even brought it up?" He did want the thought to be one-sided and cause a fight. Kiba thought that Sasuke could make a fight out of anything and marriage probably wasn't an exception. "I know Aimi wants to get married someday; she always talks about a big white wedding and kids. I know that I don't hang out with Sasuke, but I've also never heard him even hint that he'd like to get married someday," Kiba pointed out.

"That doesn't mean that he doesn't want to," Naruto argued. He didn't understand why Kiba could just back him up on the idea. "Just because Sasuke isn't some girl that talks about wanting a white wedding and kids doesn't mean that he doesn't want to get married. If you haven't noticed he's not the most open person in the world," he said, knowing it was true. Naruto never asked so Sasuke had no reason to ever tell him if he did or didn't want to get married.

"Look, I'm not a Sasuke expert," Kiba said, very annoyed with the situation. "He's your boyfriend, you should know what he'll say," he didn't want to talk about Sasuke any longer; the man was the only rift between them. Naruto had forgiven him for what he'd done to Suigetsu and they were still best friends, the only thing that caused a problem was Sasuke. "Look let's just not talk about Sasuke," Kiba suggested and Naruto agreed, realizing that Kiba was not the best person to ask for advice with anything concerning Sasuke.

It wasn't long before Naruto and Kiba went their separate ways for the day; Kiba had a date with Aimi and Naruto had to get back to Sasuke. Once Naruto left, Kiba started to think about his and Aimi's relationship. He thought their relationship was perfect and after talking to Naruto he started to think about marriage. He loved Aimi and she had talked about getting married in the past. If Naruto thought Sasuke would say yes then he was positive Aimi would.

As he made his way down the street to where he was meeting Aimi he saw a jewelry shop, in the window was a large engagement ring. Kiba found himself thinking about how it'd look on Aimi's finger. He didn't have time to think about it since he was already running late, but he kept it in the back of his mind. He knew that one day he was going to propose, but looking at the ring he thought it might happen sooner than he thought.

**NS**

Suigetsu stood and waited for his coffee to be ready. It was taking longer than he'd expected but he didn't mind because it wasn't as if he'd had anywhere to be. It was Sunday and therefore he didn't have work; he was out running errands and that was his only plans for the day. Finally his drink was ready; he grabbed it and immediately turned around, only to run into someone. His coffee spilled all over himself as he cursed, "Damn it."

"I am so sorry," the man said, grabbing napkins and trying to clean up the mess. Suigetsu looked at him, surprised. Most people would blow it off, but this guy was trying to clean it up; clean him up. It probably wasn't appropriate to be touching a stranger the way he was but Suigetsu didn't mind. When he realized what he was doing, the man stopped and looked at Suigetsu, embarrassed by his actions. "I wasn't looking where I was going," he admitted.

"It's okay," Suigetsu said, slightly hypnotized by the man's piercing green eyes. "It's just coffee," he told him, smiling at him while the man smiled back. He was a very attractive man, messy dark hair and his beautiful eyes. Suigetsu couldn't look away from his eyes, they pulled him in, and he'd never seen eyes quite that vibrant of a green.

"Let me at least buy you another," the guy said, feeling bad for causing the guy to spill his drink. The man was attractive and he had a feeling he was gay just by the way he looked at him, "I'm Ryuu." Most people would be mad because coffee usually left a stain, but all Suigetsu did was look at him and smile. Ryuu couldn't help but feel a slight physical attraction toward him. He felt that likelihood that Suigetsu was gay was slim, but that had never stopped him before. He'd flirted with plenty of straight men; it was one of the few ways to find out a person's sexual preference.

"Suigetsu," the light haired man replied as he shook his hand. "Nice to meet you," he said with a small smile. They started to talk as Ryuu made Suigetsu let him buy him a new coffee, not that it was difficult to talk him into. Even after Suigetsu got a new coffee he found himself talking to the dark haired man.

It was easy to talk to him; the conversation seemed to flow effortlessly. It almost made him think about Kiba and how it was easy to talk to him in the beginning, but he quickly made those thoughts go away and concentrate on the man in front of him. Neither one of them realized how long they had been talking until both of their drinks were long gone. "I should probably get going," Ryuu said as he looked down at his watch.

"Me too," Suigetsu said, though he didn't really want the conversation to end. They exchanged numbers before they parted, which made both of them very happy. As Suigetsu watched Ryuu walk away he felt butterflies like he'd never felt before. His first thought was to call Sasuke, knowing that if he didn't talk to someone about it he might explode. It made him feel like and idiot with a schoolgirl crush, but he didn't care.

"Hello?" Sasuke answered, sounding somewhat tired, though he knew it was probably just grumpiness. It was late enough in the day that he knew the man would have been up for awhile so he didn't feel bad for calling him.

"You'll never guess what just happened," Suigetsu said, knowing he was way more excited about the encounter than he should be. Before Sasuke answered, Suigetsu said, "I met someone." He knew that Sasuke wasn't going to even try guessing so he didn't wait for him to answer.

"Really?" Sasuke asked, suddenly interested in the conversation. "Where?" he asked, knowing that Suigetsu wasn't doing anything that day that would normally give him the opportunity to meet some guy or girl, whichever his preference was at that point. He knew Suigetsu dated both, but he seemed to date more guys than girls so he figured it was most likely a guy.

"This guy bumped into me at the coffee and caused my coffee to spill on me," he told Sasuke. "But he offered to buy me a new one and we talked for over an hour," he quickly added before the other man could insert a snarky remark.

"Nothing says love like spilling coffee on someone," Sasuke chuckled, knowing that Suigetsu was probably rolling his eyes. "Do you even know if this guy is gay?" Sasuke asked, hoping his friend wasn't getting his hopes up for nothing.

"Didn't you hear me? We talked for over an hour, I don't think any straight guy is going to decide to stay around and talk to another guy they don't know for an hour when they don't have to," Suigetsu pointed out. Sasuke just grunted in return, agreeing with him. "Anyway, he's not your type but trust me he's hot. His name is Ryuu, we exchanged numbers so hopefully I'll see him again," he told Sasuke as he made his way toward his car.

"What does he look like?" Sasuke asked, not caring that they were talking like two high school girls. He knew Suigetsu wanted to tell him all about it and with all the times he'd been there to listen to him talk about Naruto he figured he owed him.

"Dark hair, tall, and the brightest green eyes I've ever seen," he replied. It had been a long time since Suigetsu had even thought about the possibility of dating someone so Sasuke was happy for him.

"Sounds amazing," Sasuke said sarcastically. Suigetsu proceeded to talk about the guy for a while, making Sasuke realize that his friend was serious about the idea of seeing him again. "So, you're finally ready to have another relationship?" Sasuke asked, knowing that Suigetsu had never truly gotten over Kiba.

"I don't know," he replied. "But I hope so," he added, hoping that he'd finally move on. "Kiba moved on a long time ago, it's time I do the same," he told Sasuke, knowing that loving Kiba was pointless. The brunet had gotten over him a long time ago, it was time that he did the same. He didn't even know how he could still feel that way after the way Kiba had dumped him and moved on so quickly, but part of him was never able to stop loving Kiba.

"Good, the guy's an ass," Sasuke told him, causing Suigetsu to laugh. "I'm serious, all he did was lead you on; the guy isn't worth your time. Then again I don't think he's worth anyone's time, unfortunately that doesn't stop my idiot boyfriend from being his best friend," the dark haired man said. He heard the front door open and looked to see Naruto walk in, "Speaking of which, Naruto just got home so I'm going to go; but good luck with him."

They hung up and Naruto walked over to Sasuke. He had been sitting on the couch as he talked to Suigetsu, the TV on but not paying attention to it. "Hey babe," Naruto said as he sat next to Sasuke and gave him a short kiss. "I take it that was Suigetsu," he said as he kicked off his shoes, put his feet on the table, and lied back on the couch.

"Yeah, he was telling me about this guy he met," Sasuke replied as he kicked Naruto's feet off of the coffee table. "No feet on the table," he told him, causing Naruto to smirk and put his feet in Sasuke's lap. "Or on me," Sasuke said, pushing Naruto completely off the couch.

"That hurt," Naruto whined as he got up. "Stop being a dick and tell me about his guy," Naruto said. He'd always hoped that Suigetsu and Kiba would get back together someday so he didn't like the idea of Suigetsu moving on.

"They met at a coffee shop, talked, and exchanged numbers," Sasuke shrugged as he leaned against Naruto and started to flip through channels. "That's pretty much it, unless you want me to tell you all about his looks and how nice he is," Sasuke said and it was obvious to Naruto that most of the conversation had been about how hot Suigetsu thought the guy was.

"No, that's okay," Naruto replied as he put his arm around his boyfriend and pulled him close. "I just thought that Kiba and Suigetsu might one day get back together," he told him, disappointed that he might be wrong. "But with how Kiba talked about Aimi today and Suigetsu meeting some guy I'm guessing that's not going to happen," he frowned.

"Oh well," Sasuke said, not caring, "it's probably for the best." He stopped on a comedy special they hadn't seen before, "I really don't care to talk about Suigetsu and Kiba right now." Naruto just kissed the top of his head and remained silent, knowing that peace and quiet was what Sasuke wanted that night. He dared to put his feet on the table again, "Feet." Naruto sighed and took his feet off the table, instead he moved so he was lying on the wide couch, pulling Sasuke down with him. The dark haired man didn't complain and used his chest as a pillow while they watched TV. In that moment, everything was right in the world for the two of them.

**TBC…?**

**So this was a pretty long chapter considering how long my chapters usually are…**

**You met Ryuu in this chapter, let me know if you want to see more of him…**

**Let me know what you think :)**

**School is starting so I'm sorry if it takes awhile for me to update…**


	4. Never Ever

**Okay, so again this chapter isn't much about Naruto and Sasuke but next chapter will be – I promise…and you'll see an other familiar face, though one you may not be happy to see…he's going to cause some issues after next chapter…**

**I just added some things into my outline that I think will make it better later on in the story…let me know what you think :)**

**Song of inspiration: We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift**

**I own nothing regarding Naruto or it's characters**

**Chapter 4: Never Ever**

"No," Sasuke said sternly as he looked at Naruto. He felt like a parent talking to his child as Naruto looked at him. The blond was looking at him with sad eyes that he thought always worked on convincing Sasuke. "No," he repeated, not giving in.

"Come on, it's just one time," the blond said. He was trying not to whine because he knew that it never got him anywhere with Sasuke, but he wasn't doing a very good job. The dark haired man didn't budge in his decision, but Naruto soon got an idea on how to make him change his mind.

"I said no Naruto," he told him. They had been talking about their best friends, Suigetsu and Kiba, and Naruto was trying to convince him that they should all hang out. Sasuke knew it was a bad idea, which was why he had repeatedly shot down Naruto's suggestion.

"Please," Naruto said as he pulled his boyfriend close and started to kiss his neck. Sasuke still didn't give in so Naruto's hands started wandering as he pulled Sasuke in for a kiss. The dark haired man shook his head, silently saying no. Naruto's hands traveled up Sasuke's shirt as he pushed him against the counter top in their kitchen. Naruto heard Sasuke moan into the kiss as he deepened it.

The blond knew that he was going to convince Sasuke once the other man pulled him closer. He knew that if he continued to please Sasuke then he'd eventually get his way. Turning Sasuke's mind to mush was always a good way to convince him of doing anything. "Please?" he asked again as he trailed kisses don't Sasuke's collarbone.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he pushed Naruto off. "No," he told him. The blond looked annoyed as Sasuke said, "You're not going to use sex to get me to agree with you." He knew it had almost worked, but Sasuke wasn't going to cave in. As good as sex sounded at that moment, he wasn't going let himself be persuaded by Naruto using it against him.

The blond became annoyed when he realized his tactic wasn't working as he let out a sigh, realizing that he needed a new plan. "Don't you want to see Suigetsu happy again?" the blond asked, going for his other weakness. He knew that Sasuke was a good friend and would do most things in order to protect and help the ones that meant the most to him.

"You really think that seeing Kiba would make Suigetsu happy?" the dark haired man asked in disbelief. He crossed his arms across his chest, not allowing his boyfriend to change his mind. "Putting those two in the same room would only make things worse," he told him, knowing it was true.

"Please," Naruto stepped toward him. He wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck and said, "For me." His biggest weakness was Naruto and the blond knew it. He knew that when it came to him Sasuke was often going to give in. He'd often joked that Sasuke had gone soft over the years.

"Naruto, you know it's a recipe for disaster," Sasuke said sternly, not wanting to give in. As Naruto looked into his eyes, pleading for him to agree, the dark haired man knew he was a goner. "This is all your idea; if either of them asks, I had nothing to do with it," he told Naruto, who promptly hugged him after.

"You won't regret it, I promise," the blond beamed. In that moment an outsider would have never guessed that Naruto was the dominant one in the bedroom because his eyes were shining like a ten year old opening presents on Christmas morning.

"I already do," Sasuke mumbled, but pulled the blond closer to him. "Now I'm pretty sure you started something earlier that needs to be finished," he seductively said. Naruto didn't need him to say another word; he quickly kissed the other man.

It was a passionate and slow kiss, the kind that leaves you breathless once it's over. "I love you," Naruto said and Sasuke gave one of his rare genuine smiles that seemed to be reserved solely for Naruto. Sasuke just kissed him back, pouring all of his love into one kiss. He didn't need to say the words, it was implied just by his kiss alone.

"Let's take this to the bedroom," Sasuke demanded in a sultry voice. Naruto didn't need to be told twice; he quickly led Sasuke to the bedroom. The dark haired man knew that putting Suigetsu and Kiba in the same room would be disastrous but as Naruto kissed down his neck he couldn't find it in him to care about anything other than his boyfriend.

**NS**

Sasuke couldn't believe that he'd let Naruto talk him into going out with Suigetsu and Kiba. He knew it wasn't going to end well, yet there he was leading Suigetsu into a bowling alley. Sasuke thought the idea was childish, but Naruto merely said that it'd bring back old memories. He still remembered the time they all went bowling and he told Sasuke it felt like a double date; those were the good days.

"I'm guessing Naruto picked this," Suigetsu said, amused by the fact that Sasuke seemed to be wrapped around Naruto's finger. However, to be fair, Naruto was just as whipped as Sasuke. If one of them wanted something it usually ended with the other caving in.

"You would be correct," Sasuke told him. Suigetsu was confused because Sasuke suggested it, yet by the tone in his voice he knew that the other man wasn't looking for ward to that night. He was going to ask about it, but then he saw the reason.

Suigetsu stood, dumbfounded and angry, by the fact that Kiba was standing in front of him. "What the hell Sasuke," he yelled, causing more attention than he wanted. He quickly turned to walk away, but Naruto stopped him.

"Trust me, this wasn't my idea," Sasuke told him before looking at his boyfriend. Naruto just rolled his eyes at Sasuke's _"I told you so"_ look. Both Suigetsu and Kiba looked angrily at the blond, who had let go of Suigetsu's arm and was nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Look, I just want it to be like old times," the blond said. His words didn't stop the glares he was receiving from Suigetsu and Kiba. "We all know that you guys still love each other," he added, his mouth talking before his brain had time to think it over. He knew romantic feelings probably weren't the safest topic, but he still brought it up.

"Naruto," Suigetsu started, hating feeling ambushed, "it's never going to be like old times." Sasuke frowned when he saw the disappointed look on Naruto's face, which only deepened when Suigetsu said, "We are never ever getting back together." Suigetsu thought he saw a hint of disappointment in Kiba's eyes, but ignored it.

"How can you say that?" Naruto asked, wanting their group to be happy again rather than Suigetsu and Kiba avoiding each other at all costs. He wanted Sasuke to be able to be in the same room as Kiba without wanting to rip him to shreds. "You guys were so happy, remember?" he said, wishing to talk some sense into the both of them."

"Yes," Suigetsu answered and Naruto's hopes rose a little. "But he has Aimi now," he told the blond, dashing all of his hopes, "and I've met someone too." Sasuke looked at him surprised by his words. He knew that Suigetsu had met a guy named Ryuu but he didn't expect him to bring it up.

"What?" Kiba asked harshly. He didn't like the idea of Suigetsu with anyone else. He didn't have the right to tell him whom he could or couldn't date, but that didn't make his feelings go away. The feelings that weren't supposed to be there started to rise and he knew he was jealous.

"I'm out of here," Suigetsu quickly turned and walked out. He was angry that Sasuke would plan this with Naruto, however he knew that Naruto was probably very persuasive. He wasn't mad at Sasuke, but rather the situation. Though he was a little mad at Naruto, but he knew the blond had good intentions. The only one he was truly mad at was Kiba. The man had broken his heart and he was sure that he couldn't forgive him.

"I better go after him," Sasuke said while he looked at Naruto. It was the same _"I told you so"_ look as he gave him earlier. The dark haired man turned and ran to find his best friend, knowing that he was probably mad.

"I can't believe this," Kiba said angrily after Sasuke walked away. Naruto was about to apologize for the situation, but then Kiba made it clear that he wasn't talking about seeing Suigetsu. "I can't believe that he met someone," all of his suppressed feelings were starting to show. He wouldn't admit it but he knew that he was jealous.

Naruto frowned, as he remembered what Kiba had once told him in college. "I know it sucks, but you can't be mad," he told his best friend. Kiba looked at him, annoyed and confused by his words. "It's like you told me in college, you can't be jealous because you aren't with him and you aren't doing anything to change that," the blond said. Kiba didn't want to hear it, but Naruto continued, "You broke up with him, remember?" Kiba didn't respond so Naruto kept talking, "As much as I want you two to get back together, you need to remember that you two aren't dating." He paused and laughed as he said, "I really don't like being the voice of reason. It just doesn't feel right."

Kiba remained quiet as he thought about his friend's words. He knew that Naruto was right, but he didn't want to admit that he was jealous. He'd have to like him in order to be jealous that Suigetsu ha moved on and he wasn't ready to even think that he may still have feelings for Suigetsu. The more he thought about it the more proposing to Aimi sounded like a good idea. He needed to put Suigetsu completely in the past and start a future with Aimi.

**NS**

Sasuke wasn't one for apologizing, but he knew he had to. "I'm sorry," he told Suigetsu once he caught up to him. He felt bad because of what happened, even though it wasn't even his idea.

"I don't blame you," Suigetsu told him as he looked at the ground. "It still hurts to see him though," he told Sasuke as they walked down the street toward Suigetsu's apartment. "How stupid is that? I should be completely over him, it's been four years," Suigetsu said, frustrated more with himself than anyone else at that point.

"What about Ryuu?" Sasuke asked, confused. Suigetsu had seemed so confident brining up Ryuu when he'd saw Kiba. It made Sasuke think that there was more to the relationship than Suigetsu had told him.

"I may have exaggerated when I mentioned him," Suigetsu admitted and Sasuke just nodded, understanding what Suigetsu meant. "I did technically meet someone, I just don't know much about him," he confessed. "He has Aimi and he's happy, I just wanted him to think that I am too. I feel pathetic," he said as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked at the ground.

"You're not pathetic," Sasuke assured him, hating to see his best friend act that way. "He's just a jerk, it's best you forget about him anyway," he told him. If there was one thing that he was good at it was trash-talking Kiba; it was a new skill he'd seemed to acquire after their break up.

"I know," he told him. "Maybe I should just make it reality. There's no reason why I shouldn't talk to Ryuu again," he smiled just at the thought of completely moving on from Kiba. He knew it wasn't healthy to continue to love someone that didn't love him back; unfortunately his heart didn't understand that.

"My offer to kick his ass is still on the table," Sasuke smirked, causing Suigetsu to smile a little. "I'm serious; I don't care if he's Naruto's best friend, the guy is an asshole," he told the light haired man. Suigetsu soon changed the topic, no longer wanting to talk about his ex-boyfriend but rather wanting to think about the future. Kiba was part of his past; they were never _ever _getting back together.

**TBC…?**

**I feel like this chapter could have been better…let me know what you think :) **

**Like it? Hate it? Let me know…**

**Half of this was written late at night while I was tired, but I hope that doesn't show…**


	5. Take a Hint

**Okay so thank Rachkia and Akumanosaiainoko for their very sweet reviews…I've been stressed and really busy lately but their reviews kind of got me ready to write again despite having so much to do…**

**I'm sorry if this isn't the most exciting chapter but it does set up a lot of things to happen later and hopefully the chapters following this one will have more things to grab your attention I promise it will get better though you guys may hate me after you read what I have planned for chapter 18…that's a long ways off though…**

**Anyway, I own nothing, please review and enjoy**

**Song of inspiration: Take a Hint by Victorious Cast**

**Chapter 5: Take a Hint**

"Yes, I know," Sasuke said obviously annoyed. "Don't blame Naruto because I'm late," he told his brother as he rolled his eyes. He grabbed his coffee, the real reason he was late, and turned to walk out of the coffee shop when he was met with a body and hot coffee all over him. "Damn it," he huffed as the coffee soaked through a very expensive suit. "Have to go, I'll be there soon," he told Itachi as he hung up, not allowing his brother say anything else. He knew that Itachi lecture him about hanging up on him and being late, but he didn't care. He couldn't help but think about how similar this was to what happened to Suigetsu, only he was annoyed and not looking for a lover.

"I'm so sorry," he heard a familiar voice say. He recognized the voice but didn't realize who it was until he looked up. The man started to try to try to rub the coffee off of him with a napkin, but was only making it worse. Sasuke quickly stopped the man's hand, not liking being touched by anyone other than Naruto. "Sasuke?" the man asked when looked up at him.

In that moment Sasuke knew it was nothing like Suigetsu's encounter other than the coffee spilling it was a total nightmare. Sasuke didn't say anything, rather side stepping him and trying to walk away. The other man grabbed his hand, effectively stopping him from walking away. "Let me go Haru," Sasuke snapped as he pulled his hand away from the man. It had been eight years since he'd seen the man last and the way they'd last saw each other wasn't exactly a good encounter.

Sasuke turned to walk away again, but Haru stopped him, "Wait." Sasuke was already annoyed and seeing Haru again wasn't helping. "I'm actually happy that I ran into you, I was stupid in college, and I want to make it up to you," he said. "Really it's been haunting me ever since it happened," he sincerely said.

"Right," Sasuke said skeptically. He started to walk away again but Haru just followed him. "Leave me alone," he demanded, but the man didn't listen. "This could probably be considered stalking if you keep it up," he told him, just trying to get away.

"Yeah, probably," Haru shrugged, which only made Sasuke more frustrated. "Just give me one chance to make it up to you and if you still hate me after then I'll leave you alone forever," he seemed a little desperate, but genuine at the same time. "Just meet me for drinks, as friends. I'm not going to leave you alone until you do," he told him, determination in his eyes. "Invite whoever you want, we can all just have a fun night out, as friends," he said.

He looked at Haru and realized that the man was going to pull a Naruto on him if he didn't agree. He didn't particularly want to agree but he knew that Haru probably knew where he worked; after all it wasn't as if the Uchiha Company's building was hidden. "Fine," he sighed, "now just leave me alone."

"Great, tonight, eight o'clock at that bar on 5th street," Haru said. Sasuke just nodded. Haru smiled and said, "Awesome, I'll see you tonight." The bar on 5th was a gay bar called Encounters. Sasuke had been there a few times, it was a nice bar but he knew that Naruto wasn't going to be happy. All the dark haired man could was let out a deep sigh and hope that the morning wasn't a sign of how his day was going to go.

**NS**

"You better be kidding," Naruto angrily said as he saw Sasuke getting ready. "You know that you can't trust the guy, remember what happened in college?" he reminded him as he followed Sasuke into the bathroom where he was getting ready. He was pissed that Sasuke would even think about going to meet Haru that night.

"I told you that you can come," Sasuke argued, realizing that it truly wasn't his day. "If you're really that worried then come along," he said as he looked threateningly at his boyfriend. He was giving him the look that said he really didn't want the argument to continue.

"I will," Naruto said as he walked toward the closet to get clothes. "If he tries anything then I'll rip his dick off," he told him as he started to change his clothes. Sasuke just rolled his eyes at Naruto but knew that the blond wasn't completely lying. If Haru made a move on him he knew that Haru probably would be walking away in pain, if he could walk at all. He loved Naruto but the blond was overly jealous and protective at times.

"It's not like I was going to meet him alone anyway," Sasuke told him, hating feeling as if Naruto didn't trust him. "Suigetsu is going to bring Ryuu so I can meet this guy, see if he's good for Suigetsu," he told him as he watched the blond get ready.

"Like a double date," Naruto mumbled as he finished getting ready. When he saw the deadly look that Sasuke was giving him he knew that it was time to shut up. He stopped for the moment, but when he actually saw Haru they both knew it was going to be a different story.

**NS**

The bar was more like a club and a bar mixed. It had a dance floor and tables scattered throughout, with a bar in the middle, however the music wasn't over powerful. It was the best of both worlds. Naruto sat close to Sasuke, his arm protectively around him. Haru, Suigetsu, and Ryuu held a conversation as Naruto glared at Haru and every other guy that even looked at Sasuke. "I guess neither of you guys pay attention when you get coffee," Ryuu laughed and looked at Suigetsu. The light haired man smiled back at him.

"I blame Itachi, he was distracting me," he told him. "I know that I was late but that doesn't mean that he needs to call me and annoy me until I get into the office," Sasuke said. The rest just laughed, except Naruto.

"I'm glad that he was, it gives us a chance to be friends again," Haru said. Naruto just wanted to punch him, though Sasuke brushed it off as if it were nothing.

"Friends," Naruto emphasized as he looked at Haru. "That's it," he warned him, "and that's all it will ever be." Sasuke gave him a warning look but he just said, "What, it's true. I'm just making sure that he knows it."

"I know, I don't think that I could break you guys up," he told the blond, but he wasn't convincing Naruto. "You guys have been together for eight years, I don't think that I'll be able to break that up," he said. "I'm surprised you two aren't married yet," he said before taking a drink.

Naruto didn't trust the look on his face, which looked like a smirk to him. "It really is a big _coincidence_ that you would run into him like that, I mean how could you not see him?" Naruto asked, not believing that it was just an accident. That was Sasuke's favorite coffee shop and everyone knew that. He went every morning; it was also the place Ryuu had literally run into Suigetsu. Naruto didn't believe that it could all be a coincidence that it would happen almost the exact same way as Ryuu and Suigetsu's encounter did.

"Sure is," Haru said innocently.

"Would you stop," Sasuke said harshly to Naruto. The waitress brining over a drink to Sasuke cut off the conversation. "I didn't order a drink," Sasuke told her, but she just smiled. "The man at the bar did for you," she said as she pointed toward a handsome man sitting at the bar smiling at Sasuke.

"He's not interested," Naruto said before glaring at the man. "You tell him that," Naruto told her, but she just backed away. She wanted no part of it and wasn't going to get in the middle of it. It was the fifth time that night that a man had bought a drink for Sasuke and with Haru there Naruto was already on edge.

Sasuke just kissed the blond and said, "Calm down." It was more of a demand than a suggestion and the blond just nodded, but didn't like it.

"Hey guys," a drunk Sakura's voice said as she burst into their conversation. It was obvious that she was drunk and that Ino wasn't much better. Hinata stood behind them; the only sober one in the group. She seemed worried about her friends, but didn't say anything.

Naruto seemed to cheer up at their appearance. Not only was it funny to see Sakura drunk, but she also put more space between Sasuke and Haru as she leaned against the table. "What are you doing at a gay bar?" the blond asked.

"We're doing our girl's night out," she giggled spilling her drink as she moved. "We come here because guys don't hit on us, there's no temptation. Plus lesbians like to buy us drinks," she told them, it was clear that she'd had a few too many drinks. "Well aren't you a cutie," she said as she turned toward Haru.

"Uh, thanks," Haru said, a little uncomfortable. Naruto was happy as Sakura started to have a conversation with the other man and pulled his attention away from Sasuke. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata didn't leave the rest of the night. Haru got along well with the girls and they ended up exchanging numbers. Sakura said she loved having gay friends, they were much more fun than normal guys.

By the end of the night Naruto was just ready to get out of the bar, "We better get going." Sasuke just nodded in agreement, as everyone else did as well. "I'm going to go to the bathroom, I'll meet you at the car," Naruto told Sasuke before giving him a quick kiss.

"Make it fast," Sasuke told him before leaving the bar.

Naruto didn't go to the bathroom, rather he turned toward Haru and said, "Stay away from Sasuke. If you so much as try to hit on him I will not hesitate to hurt you." Haru didn't look fazed by his words, which caused Naruto to say, "If you know what's good for you then stay away from him."

"If you trust him then I shouldn't be a problem," Haru said as he took one last drink. "If he loves you, then you shouldn't have to worry, right? You shouldn't need to threaten me," he told him as he stood up. "Then again, it's been eight years and you two aren't even engaged, so maybe you aren't as much in love as you say," he smugly pushed past Naruto before exiting the bar. Naruto didn't trust him and he knew in that moment that he had every reason not to trust the man.

**TBC…**

**Sorry for the long wait! Let me know what you think :) **


	6. Never Again

**I'm so sorry for the long wait. I've had so much to do and even now I should be doing homework but I've continually have been feeling bad for not updating so I took the time to write before doing any homework…**

**Anyway, I'm not going to leave a long note this time I'll just get right to the story.**

**The song for this chapter is Never Again by Kelly Clarkson and I think it really fits**

**I own nothing, enjoy and please review…**

**Chapter 6: Never Again**

"Must we go see what Kiba's _big announcement_ is today?" Sasuke asked as he and Naruto lay in bed. "I really, really don't care to know what the idiot has to say," he told him as he turned onto his side, looking at his lover. It was still early in the morning but Sasuke was already thinking about later that night, when Kiba had called them all to some bar.

"Yes," Naruto said as he moved over so that he and Sasuke were touching. Sasuke moved so that he was laying his head on Naruto's chest. It was moments like that, which assured Naruto just how much Sasuke truly loved him. Sasuke wasn't an affectionate man, he was the only one that truly got to see the vulnerable side of the usually rather cold man. He wouldn't trade those moments for anything.

"He's your friend," Sasuke said as he started to kiss up his neck. "Why do I have to go?" he asked, hoping he could distract Naruto in order to get his way. They started to kiss, it was gentle at first but quickly became much more passionate as Sasuke straddled the blond. The conversation had seemed to be forgotten as Sasuke took his nightshirt off and threw it onto the floor.

Naruto switched their positions and looked down at his lover, admiring just how beautiful the other man was. They continued to kiss as Sasuke ran his hands down Naruto's already naked chest. He was about to get to the hem of Naruto's pajama pants when the blond said, "You have to go because you love me. Plus I need you to bring Suigetsu along."

"Seriously?" Sasuke asked with a glare as he pushed his lover off of him. "You're really bringing them up right now? Didn't I tell you to just give up on the idea of them? Suigetsu met someone else and Kiba Aimi," Sasuke angrily said as he got out of bed, no longer in the mood.

"Where are you going?" Naruto whined, knowing that he'd messed up. He really needed to know when to shut up; like when his boyfriend is in the mood to have sex. "I'm sorry I won't bring it up again," he said as he followed Sasuke. "Where are you going?" he asked, following his boyfriend into the bathroom.

"I'm taking a shower," he told Naruto. Before the blond could even ask Sasuke told him, "No you can't join me." He took off his pants, obviously annoyed, before getting into the shower.

He sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get sex anytime soon. Naruto figured that Sasuke was already mad so he asked, "So will you get Suigetsu to come?" He knew that it was dangerous to get Sasuke mad, but he knew that Sasuke wouldn't do any real damage. He loved him too much to do anything drastic, or at least Naruto hoped that he did.

"Go away before I find something in here to throw at you," Sasuke hissed, making Naruto quickly leave.

"I'll take that as a yes," Naruto grinned. "Thanks babe," he said, quickly running out of the bathroom before Sasuke followed through with his threat. He heard Sasuke yelling at him but knew that it wouldn't be smart to go back, instead going to make breakfast. He knew that he'd have to make a good breakfast for any chance that Sasuke wouldn't be mad at him all day.

Ten minutes later Sasuke came into the kitchen, his hair watered down and the glare still on his face. He looked at the breakfast Naruto had made and the apologetic smile on the blonde's face. "Can you just give up on thinking they'll get back together?" he sighed, knowing that he couldn't really stay mad at the blond. Unfortunately for him, he truly did love the other man.

"Just this one last time. If this doesn't work a little then I'll give up," he told Sasuke as the dark haired man sat down at the table. "Please," he said as he sat across for him, "for me?"

Sasuke looked at him, wanting to say no because he knew it wasn't a good idea. "If this blows up again, I'm not taking the blame. This is all on you," he told the blond. He knew that either way it'd be guilt by association so it wouldn't matter if he said he knew what they were doing either way. Suigetsu always knew he was lying. It was going to be a long night, that was one thing Sasuke knew was guaranteed.

**NS**

"Sasuke what are we doing here?" Suigetsu asked as they walked toward the bar. It wasn't like Sasuke to want to go out for no reason, he knew something was up and wasn't sure that he would like what it was. The silence made him even more so he asked, "Was this Naruto's idea?" He knew that he'd want to turn right around if it were.

"It sure as hell wasn't mine," he told his best friend before pushing him into the bar. "So if this goes terribly wrong, don't blame me. Blame my idiot boyfriend," he said as they walked in and Suigetsu froze. Kiba was in clear view and Sasuke could tell that he wanted to turn and run. "You don't have to talk to him, just make sure Naruto sees you and you can go. Hell if you want I give you permission to punch him for being an idiot," he told him.

"I might take you up on that offer," he told Sasuke as they walked to a less crowded part of the bar. Suigetsu was miserable and while Naruto saw them he stayed away. He was sure that by the look on both of their faces that he wouldn't want to go over.

"Okay, listen up everyone," Kiba said loudly, making everyone look at him. The brunet turned toward Aimi and smiled, "Aimi, we've been together for a long time now." The girl looked excited and everyone knew what was going to happen. "I love you so much, would you do me the honor of being my wife?" he asked as he got down on one knee.

"Yes," she excitedly said. He stood up and pulled the ring he'd bought of the box, slipping it onto her finger before she pulled him into a hug. "I love you too," she said before kissing him, everyone in the bar cheered and congratulated the couple.

Sasuke just glared at Naruto, who was truly surprised. The dark haired man looked at his best friend, whom just stood there shocked. As he snapped out of his shock he quickly got up, "I'm going home." Before Sasuke could say anything, he said, "I don't want to talk about it, just stay here." He then disappeared out of the bar.

Suigetsu started to walk home, needing the fresh air to clear his mind. He felt a hand grab him and said, "Sasuke, I said I didn't want to talk." He was surprised to see Kiba standing in front of him when he turned around. "What do you want?" he asked, trying not to sound bitter.

"I'm sorry," he told him. "I love her, I didn't expect you to even be there," he said, for some reason feeling the need to explain himself. "It just feels right," he knew that he was lying, it was more the fact that Naruto was talking about proposing to Sasuke.

"You don't need to explain anything to me," Suigetsu cut him off. "You broke up with me four years ago, remember?" he didn't want to feel that sinking feeling in his heart, but he did as he looked at Kiba. "Just answer me one thing, does she not care that you're gay or is she just in denial?" he asked.

"I'm not gay," he said, getting defensive. "I wouldn't be marrying Aimi if I were," he pointed out as if marrying a woman showed that he weren't gay.

"Then why are you out here explaining this to me instead of inside celebrating with her?" he asked but Kiba was speechless. He didn't have an answer for that question, not one that wouldn't make it seem as if he still had feelings for the other man. "That's what I thought," Suigetsu said, frowning, "goodbye Kiba." They both knew that the goodbye was meant to be forever, but neither of them were sure that were possible.

**NS**

"So Sasuke, when are you and Naruto finally going to tie the knot?" Sakura asked the dark haired man as everyone was having celebratory drinks. "It's been eight years, don't you think it's time?" she asked. "I mean I think it's time. Lee and I are engaged, Kiba's even engaged to Aimi. Ino at least has an excuse since her and Sai have been on and off so many times," she pointed out.

"I'm mad at the idiot right now," he told Sakura, but she just gave him a look that meant she wasn't going to give up. "I don't want to get married," he told the girl, "Naruto knows that." The pink haired girl looked at her blond friend, whom was just frowning and she had a feeling that he hadn't known that.

"Well are you going to at least help me and Ino plan the wedding? Aimi said we could help, it's going to be so fun," she said excitedly, feeling that Naruto and Sasuke getting married was an off limit topic.

"Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I like that crap," he told the pink haired woman. He wasn't sure how many times he'd told her that not all gay men like shopping and decorating, but she still hadn't got it through her head. "I'm sure you guys will do an okay job without me," he said.

"Fine, have it your way," she said. "I'll get you to like this stuff sooner or later," she told him. "What fun is it to have a gay friend that doesn't like girly stuff?" Sakura gave a devious smile, as if she had some sort of plan, but he knew she didn't.

"Come on Naruto, I want to go home," he said. "I don't want to have to deal with you drunk or any of these people drunk," he said, not in the mood to deal with drunken idiots. The blond knew not to argue when Sasuke was already mad at him. Sasuke would probably leave him here and lock him out of the house.

"Fine, let's at least go congratulate them," Naruto said, disappointed. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and followed the blond toward Aimi and Kiba. Naruto could tell that Kiba's smile was fake, even if no one else could; he figured that it wasn't the time to say anything. "Hey man," he smiled, "congratulations. We're heading out, the wife here wants to go home."

He got a swift punch on the arm and a glare from Sasuke, "Call me that again and it'll you'll be sleeping on the couch and even longer until we have sex." His words made Naruto shut up and Kiba laugh. "Bye," Sasuke said coldly and Kiba knew why. They all knew that the reason Kiba had never been beat up by Sasuke was because of Naruto. He'd been cold toward the man ever since he'd broken Suigetsu's heart.

"Bye," he replied with a frown as the two left. Aimi assured him that it was okay, thinking the only problem was the way Sasuke had treated him. She didn't think that he'd talked to Suigetsu that night and was feeling bad about that interaction. She wouldn't let herself think that Kiba had any more feelings for Suigetsu, especially after he'd proposed to her.

**TBC…**

**Sorry it took so long to update but I hope you guys all liked the chapter…**

**Let me know what you think…**

**Hopefully I'll be faster to update next time…**


	7. Storm Warning

**I wanted to update faster for this chapter so I'm putting off some homework to do so…**

**This chapter's name is more for the title of the song than it is for the actual content in chapter…you'll see what I mean…**

**I own nothing, enjoy and please review**

**Song of inspiration: Storm Warning by Hunter Hayes**

**Chapter 7: Storm Warning**

Sasuke knew that Naruto wasn't going to be happy he was working late but it was important that he got the work done. The paperwork was due in two days and he wasn't as far along on it as he would have liked to be. He may have been one of the owners of the company but that didn't mean that he didn't have responsibilities. He sighed as his eyes were locked to the computer screen as he quickly tried to get the work done.

He heard his office door open but didn't think anything of it. He had known that Itachi often stayed a little late, though he had thought the other man had already left. "I thought you had to get back to Kisame," he said, though he didn't look away from the screen.

"I don't think he'd want to see me," the person behind him said. The voice was one that he easily recognized and one that made him tense at the sound of it. He hadn't ever wanted to hear the voice again. In fact he thought he was finally done with that voice, it still made him feel weak. "You don't look happy to see me," he said, the tone was clearly smug.

"How did you get in here?" Sasuke demanded, trying to appear stronger than he was feeling. "You have to have an access card to be in this building and you certainly wouldn't be issued one," he continued. Sasuke turned around in his chair to see the golden eyes that had haunted his dreams for so long. "I thought I was done with you when I pressed charges," he said, glaring at the older man.

"Clearly you were wrong," Orochimaru hissed. "It's been nearly eight years, I've missed you," he gave a dark chuckle. "But it seems that the feelings aren't returned," he gave an evil smirk. He moved closer, invading Sasuke's personal space.

"I asked you a question," Sasuke said, moving away from the other man but not going very far as the back of his chair hit the desk. He felt as trapped as he had years ago and it made his heart rate speed up. He tried not to show the fear but knew that he probably wasn't doing a very good job as his fear grew.

"I have my ways," he said as he moved closer once again, trapping Sasuke between himself and the desk. "I have my people," he arrogantly told Sasuke. "But don't worry," he pushed Sasuke's hair out of his face before running his hand down the side of his face, "I'm not going to hurt you." Orochimaru could see the doubt in Sasuke's eyes and he loved the look of fear he'd caused. He leaned closer as he whispered in his ear, "At least not yet. But I'll be seeing you around, you can count on that."

With those words Orochimaru moved away, looking at the expression on Sasuke's face and loving the slight fear he saw in the other man's eyes. He quickly left, Sasuke was ridged and still in his chair. He was as pale as a ghost as his heart wouldn't calm down as he looked at the door. He didn't know whom he could trust at that moment, he didn't know who gave him an access key and was suspicious of every worker. He had been so thorough when picking whom he hired; he didn't know how it could have happened.

**NS**

When he arrived home Sasuke felt numb, his mind racing with thoughts about Orochimaru. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked as he watched his long time boyfriend act like robot. He hadn't seen him like that in a long time and it worried him. He knew something had happened, he just wasn't sure what.

Sasuke snapped out of his trance. He looked at Naruto, wanting to telling him but deciding not to. "Everything is fine," he gave a fake smile. "It was just a long day," he lied, but Naruto seemed to believe it.

"Come relax with me," Naruto smiled, feeling as if he had been worried for nothing but still having that unsure feeling. "I've got popcorn and a movie, it may be half way through the movie," he looked down at the bowl on his lap, "and popcorn, but it's just a stupid comedy. It's pretty easy to catch up on the premise of it." Sasuke just nodded, but didn't say anything else. He quickly changed and sat next to Naruto, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong, but having a hard time doing so.

**NS**

There was a knock on the door just as Suigetsu was getting comfortable. "What the hell," he groaned, not expecting any visitors. He figured that it must be Sasuke since that was the only person that he knew that showed up unexpectedly. When he opened the door he was shocked, certainly not expecting it to be the person that was standing in front of him, "Aimi? What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," she told him, "can I come in?" He nodded and let her in. Suigetsu was still in shock as he looked at the woman in front of him. It was truly the last person he thought would be on his doorstep; they weren't exactly friends. "I need you to stay away from Kiba," she got straight to the point, obviously not wanting to be there long.

"If he truly loves you then me being near him shouldn't make a difference," he told her, not liking to be told what to do. It wasn't as if he wanted to see Kiba, it was always Naruto's fault that he was there. It was just the principle of the matter; it was that she was trying to tell him what he could and couldn't do. "But you should know he's not who you think he is," he said, knowing all to well how the man was. It wasn't that he was trying to get rid of her, but rather warning her.

"I know you still love him, but he's with me now," she said. "He loves me, you need to understand that," she told him, trying to build confidence that what she was saying was completely true. She loved Kiba and she truly wanted to believe that he loved her too, not Suigetsu. They were going to get married and that should have been enough, but with Suigetsu around it didn't feel like it was enough.

"I think it's kind of ironic that you're telling me to stay away because you two are in love when you certainly didn't stay away during my relationship with him. In fact I think you did everything in your power to break us up. I think it's best that you leave," he told her as he signaled toward the door. "But just know that I thought he loved me too, and well you see how that turned out," he said as he opened the door for her to leave. "He's gay, we both know that, maybe it's time you stop being in denial. I'm not going to stop you from marrying him but I'm also not going to be happy for you guys. Don't worry I try to stay away, you want me nowhere near him then talk to Naruto, he's the one that drags me to see him," he told her before she left.

She didn't say anything else before she walked out of his door. She looked at him sadly, as if he'd just confirmed everything that she had been thinking.

**NS**

Haru sat across from Sakura as he had dinner with the girls. He pretended to care about decorations and Aimi's engagement party. "This is going to be fun, I'm glad you guys are including me. I know Naruto doesn't like me much, he just doesn't understand that I've changed," he lied as he drank one of the fruity drinks that all of the girls were having. The more he gained their trust the more he was going to be around Sasuke, it was perfect. Naruto may not have trusted him, but the girls were going to invite him everywhere.

"He just doesn't understand that people can change," Sakura shrugged as she took a sip of her drink. "I mean you respect the boundaries now, he'll learn to trust you soon enough when he finds out that you're helping plan the engagement party," she told him with a smile. "As long as Sasuke trusts you he's not going to argue, he may be the dominate in bed but Sasuke is totally the one controlling the relationship," she told them.

"How do you even know who's dominate in bed?" Ino asked, curious as to Sakura obtained that information.

"I walked in on them once," Sakura told the girls. "Let me tell you, I may not have liked Sasuke being gay at first but seeing it is totally hot," she gave a dreamy smile. "They may not have been happy with me ruining the mood, but I was," she said happily, "I'm not sure that Naruto has fully forgiven me for that."

The group laughed as Ino said, "I would have totally pictured Sasuke to be the dominant, but it kind of makes sense." The group gave her a curious look, "Come on, Sasuke is definitely the more feminine one of two, his hair alone shows that. But Sasuke controls the relationship, he's got Naruto wrapped around his finger."

"I thought we were talking about Aimi and Kiba's engagement party," Hinata reminded them nervously. Hinata didn't like talking about sex, it was supposed to be an intimate act between the two people, not something to talk about in a public restaurant and especially about the sex life of two people that weren't even there. She knew that her face must have been bright red but she wanted the subject changed.

"She's right," Sakura sighed. "But we need to think about her bachelorette party too, I think we should hire strippers. It'd be fun just to see the look on her face," she smiled, "and they definitely need to be dressed as cops or firefighters." The conversation changed to the bachelorette party, which Hinata wasn't sure was better than Naruto and Sasuke's sex life. Both subjects made her blush but she decided to keep her mouth shut and let them plan what they wanted to.

Hinata looked at Haru, something inside of her didn't trust him. She wasn't sure if it was because Naruto didn't or if it was because he seemed too interested in planning a party for someone he hardly knew. She tried to tell herself that she was just being paranoid about her friend possibly getting hurt but the look on his face made it hard to ignore her feelings. He was a nice enough guy, but maybe that was part of the problem; he was being too nice. She never thought she'd think that someone was being too nice but it was all just too much for someone the rest of the group hardly knew.

**TBC…**

**Anyway, that was a little faster of an update than what I've been doing lately…**

**Let me know what you think :)**


	8. Unfaithful

**This story seems to be getting fewer reviews every chapter…Is it because of how long I'm taking to update or because the story is bad? Sorry if it's either of those...**

**Thanks to the eight people that reviewed :) really I thought the last one would get more than that just because Orochimaru showed up again…oh well**

**Since there were only 8 of you, thanks to: dark-wings20, mammacass99, Akira Nishikawa, Emirri, dashllee, uchiha hinata21, Tenshi Yami- Angel of Darkness, and illogicalstarz :) Many of them has also reviewed on every or almost every chapter so you guys are truly awesome :) **

**As always, I own nothing…enjoy and please review :)**

**This is inspired by the Rhianna song Unfaithful or at least it's inspired by the title of the song**

**Chapter 8: Unfaithful **

"I hate your boyfriend," Suigetsu said with a sigh as he looked at his best friend. Somehow he had been dragged to an engagement party of two people he didn't like. Part of him didn't mind because of how angry it made Aimi to see him there. It was nice to make her angry after what she'd done to him; it was probably the only reason he stayed. His presence made her angry and Kiba squirm. He also knew that they wouldn't say anything because of Naruto and how Naruto was using him to keep an eye on Haru.

"Shut up, you don't have to be here, you can leave," Sasuke reminded him as he leaned back in his chair. Suigetsu had noticed that in the past week and a half Sasuke had seemed fidgety. It was as if he was hiding something and he wondered if Naruto had a reason to be worried. He thought that Sasuke told him everything but as he looked at his best friend he knew that there was something he was hiding, which meant it was something big.

"You'd never cheat on Naruto, right?" Suigetsu asked. He knew that he shouldn't think that because Sasuke loved Naruto, but he wasn't sure what else it could be. Sasuke shot him the nastiest look he'd given in a long time. Suigetsu wasn't sure if he were hiding guilt or if he were truly angry that he would think he'd ever cheat.

"Did you really just ask me that?" Sasuke asked angrily. That was when Suigetsu knew it was probably the latter, but he still didn't know for sure. "I know Naruto's jealous and suspicious of Haru, did he put you up to this?" he asked, clearly angry.

"No," Suigetsu said truthfully. "But you've been acting weird lately and haven't told me what's going on with you," he frowned, "I just couldn't think of any other explanation." Sasuke still looked mad and Suigetsu knew he had messed up and that Sasuke probably wasn't cheating, "It's just odd that right when he shows up you start acting weird."

"If I thought it was any of your damn business then I'd tell you," Sasuke snapped as he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Suigetsu asked as the other man walked away from him.

"To get some air and away from you," the dark haired man said as he left. He walked outside and leaned against the nearest wall. He knew that it was wrong to keep what had happened with Orochimaru a secret from Suigetsu and Naruto but he didn't want them to worry. He could handle it on his own; he had to.

"I see that you haven't told them," that all to familiar voice said as he appeared from the shadows. He wore his creepy smirk as his golden eyes gave an evil gaze. "It's probably for the best that you keep this between us anyway," Orochimaru said as he came closer. "You wouldn't want either of them to get hurt," he hissed as he ventured into Sasuke's personal space.

"Leave them out of this," Sasuke growled, knowing that he couldn't tell them about Orochimaru. Sasuke pushed him away and moved toward the door. "Leave me the hell alone," he said, "I'm not that little kid that's scare of you anymore." He knew it was a lie but he had to stay strong.

"We both know that's a lie," Orochimaru told him. "See you around," he grinned as he disappeared back into the shadows. Sasuke's heart was racing as he made his way back into the building, wondering how the man continually found him.

**NS**

"I can't believe you invited him," Naruto huffed as he talked to Sakura. Haru was just across the room talking to some of the partiers. He wasn't fooling Naruto; he saw the way Haru's eyes seemed to follow Sasuke. He was just surprised that the man didn't follow Sasuke into the bathroom.

"Come on, he's not _that_ bad," Sakura said with a drunken slur. She'd had far too many to drink that night and it was obvious to everyone. "Aimi loves him," she told Naruto, "he's a great guy."

"Aimi just seems to love all gay men," he said as he rolled his eyes. "And he _is_ that bad," Naruto said, "He's trying to steal my boyfriend." He saw the look on Sakura's face that clearly said she thought he was exaggerating or just paranoid. "Why am I the only one that is able to see right through this guy? He's been drooling over Sasuke the entire night!"

Sakura stumbled a little as she went to move, "You worry too much." She grabbed onto the bar, "Sasuke loves you; he wouldn't do that." Naruto wasn't sure how she seemed to be able to make sense considering how drunk she was, but he still didn't believe that he had nothing to worry about it.

Once Sakura stumbled again Naruto sighed, knowing she had passed her limit a long time ago. "Sai," he called over the closest person he could find. "Can you take her home? She's way past her limit and I can't go," he said, not knowing that Sai was just as drunk as she was.

Sai agreed as he pulled the girl with him. He didn't say much, but that was how he was, if he didn't feel there was a need for him to talk or if he didn't have something to add he wouldn't. Usually what he'd add was something inappropriate, but that didn't matter. Sakura held on to him as they left the party. Neither knew where their significant others were so they didn't say goodbye, nor did they really think to.

Her parents' house was the closest thing to the party so he brought her there. He wasn't going to risk driving to her and Lee's house when it was so far and dangerous for him to drive. When he placed her in her childhood bed she pulled him down with her, "I don't want to sleep alone."

He knew it was a bad idea, but it was still dangerous for him to drive. He just nodded, not knowing why he would, and laid next to her. It was just sleeping; at least he thought that was all it was going to be. Unfortunately, closeness and alcohol didn't result in just sleeping. It started with kissing and all of their thoughts went out the window.

The kissing progressed and clothes came off. "Lee," she moaned, but he ignored that. It was as if he hadn't heard that she'd said another man's name. It was all a blur as they did something they'd both come to regret.

**NS**

Suigetsu was just about to leave; he was outside looking at the building. He was asking himself why he even came and why he stayed so long. The door opening pulled him out of his daze. He looked and saw Kiba; they both knew it wasn't a coincidence he'd come outside.

"You just can't stay away," Kiba said as they looked at each other. Suigetsu turned away, trying to deny all of the feelings he'd never fully gotten over. He wanted to say that after four years he'd gotten over the brunet, but it was hard to just get over someone he'd loved so much.

"Neither can you," Suigetsu said. Kiba always seemed to find him when they were at the same place. They always seemed to be alone at some point and it wasn't just an accident.

"I know," Kiba admitted. No matter how hard he'd tried to deny it there was still something there. He had feelings that he couldn't shake; even when he'd made love to Aimi he still couldn't get Suigetsu fully out of his mind. Nothing was the same with her, yet he still told himself that he loved her.

"You should be able to, after all you love her, right?" Suigetsu asked as they somehow drew closer to one another. "You love that your family approves of her, that much is sure," he added, mentioning another reason why Kiba had broken up with him. "You're straight last I heard, so why can't you just stay away?" he asked.

"I don't know," Kiba replied. He truly tried to understand how he could say he loved Aimi yet always be drawn to the man in front of him. They didn't say anything else; they just looked at each other, wondering how they'd gotten so close. It was then that Kiba couldn't take it anymore, he pulled Suigetsu forward and kissed him. It wasn't just any kiss; it was passionate and full of feelings that they'd been suppressing. It was one they'd both missed.

When they pulled away Kiba stared, realizing what he'd just done. "I have to go," he mumbled turning from Suigetsu and back into the party. He'd left him there standing in front of the building, both confused and angry. Kiba had kissed him and went back to her and it hurt just as much as it did when he'd left him the first time.

He wasn't sure how he could like someone so much when he'd hurt him as much as Kiba had. Somehow it still stung because part of him still loved Kiba. He wanted to get over him, but something wouldn't let him.

**TBC…**

**Let me know what you think :) like it? Hate it? Let me know…**

**For some reason Suigetsu's and Kiba's relationship is starting to remind me of Speak Now by Taylor Swift **


	9. Lying Is The Most Fun

**Okay you guys are awesome :) I wanted make sure to update fast because of how many of you guys reviewed **

**As always I own nothing enjoy and please review :)**

**This chapter is inspired by Lying is the Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Off Her Clothes by Panic! At The Disco or at least the title of the song…**

**Chapter 9: Lying is the Most Fun**

Hinata was trying to find Sakura and when a worried Lee told her she hadn't come home that night, she calmed him and told him she'd find her. She knew exactly where to look: her parents' house. Sakura was drunk the night before and her parents' house was close, it was logical to think that if she weren't with Lee then she was there. She wanted to talk about planning Aimi's bachelorette party, they were supposed to meet with Ino that morning but the blonde had been too bad of a hangover to do anything that morning. When Sakura hadn't answered her phone Hinata went in search of her.

Sakura's parents let her in, saying that they were almost positive the pink haired woman was in her old childhood room. Hinata made her way up the stairs but stopped in front of Sakura's door when she heard two voices. She immediately recognized the voices as Sakura and Sai. It surprised her that the two were in the room, but thought that there had to be a good reason. She refused to think the worst.

"Shouldn't we talk about this?" she heard Sai ask. He sounded exhausted and somewhat worried. She didn't dare interrupt the conversation, she knew it'd be awkward, but her curiosity made her stay.

"No, none of this happened," Sakura told him. "I can't believe that I just cheated on Lee, he would never forgive me if he found out," she sounded as if she were about to cry. "No one can find out, it'll ruin both of our relationships and I can't lose Lee, he's the best thing that has ever happened to me," she told him. The tone of her voice told Hinata that she was about to breakdown at any moment.

Hinata's eyes widened as she listened to the conversation. She wished she had never heard the words because she knew that she couldn't tell anyone but didn't know how she could keep the information to herself. She quickly left before they knew she was there, not wanting them to know she had heard. She was conflicted, what was a worse betrayal, telling Ino or not?

**NS**

"Where were you guys?" Lee asked as Sakura, Ino, Sai, and he met for lunch. The lunch had been planned, but Sakura and Sai weren't ready for it, not after the night before.

Sakura bit her lip as she quickly thought of an excuse. "I was drunk, really drunk," she told them. "Sai took me to my parents house," she added, it was true but not the entire story. She didn't want to lie, but she had to in order to keep her boyfriend and best friend, "He slept on the couch because he was too drunk to drive."

"Why didn't you guys call or find us?" Ino asked. She wasn't suspicious, just getting over her worry of not knowing where they were that night.

"Naruto called me over to take her home," Sai informed them. "We were really just too drunk to tell anyone," he partially lied. "Honestly I'm surprised Naruto didn't say anything," he added, feeling guilty. What confused him was that he didn't seem to feel nearly as guilty as Sakura did. She seemed to think it was the end of the world, but he didn't. Perhaps it was his lack of regular human emotions, but he wasn't sure. It felt to him that the only reason he was lying was because he knew Sakura would kill him if he didn't.

**NS**

"Are you okay?" Aimi asked as she sat next to Kiba. He had been spaced out most of the day, seemingly lost in his thoughts. She thought that if something was going on he'd tell her, but he was becoming distant. He had a far away look in his eyes and she couldn't understand what was going on. Ever since the night before he had seemed distant and she didn't know why, or at least she hoped that she didn't know why.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said as he snapped out of his stupor. He knew he was lying; his mind had been racing with thoughts of Suigetsu all day. He had a beautiful fiancée and yet he couldn't help but think of the person he'd left four years ago. He thought it was a good idea but after kissing the other man he couldn't seem to forget it. He wasn't even sure why he did it, but he couldn't shake the feelings inside.

"Are you sure? You've hardly talked all day," she told him, genuinely concerned. It wasn't like him to keep quiet, he usually had something to talk about and yet he'd hardly spoken a word to her.

"Yeah, just tired," he gave a fake smile. He wished it were real; he wished it were the truth, but he knew it wasn't and it hurt him inside to know he was lying to the girl. He thought he loved her, but there was just something about Suigetsu. He told himself it was just being afraid of commitment, but he wasn't even sure that was true.

Aimi looked at him and frowned. The smile on his face was clearly fake and she knew he was lying. The look made her think back to Suigetsu and what he'd said. The look made her wonder if what Suigetsu had said was true; if the entire relationship was a lie. Was he really gay or just preoccupied? She hated the doubt but it was starting to feel as if Suigetsu wasn't crazy. It felt as if Kiba never really was hers. She just hoped that she was wrong.

**NS**

Sasuke had been cautious ever since he first saw Orochimaru. It felt as if he had been looking over his shoulder ever since and he knew that Naruto could see it. He tried not to think about it as they sat on their couch, watching a movie. "I'm bored," Naruto whispered in his ear before he started kissing down the side of his neck.

"Of course you are," Sasuke chuckled before pulling him to kiss his lips. He wanted to be able to enjoy their time together and forget anything ever happened with Orochimaru and Naruto was good at distracting him. Before he knew it, Sasuke was on his back while Naruto hovered over him kissing him passionately as his hands moved down Sasuke's body.

Naruto couldn't help but feel happy because Sasuke didn't push him away. It seemed as if that was all Sasuke had been doing lately and it was nice for them to go back to normal. When he pulled him closer, Sasuke yelped, but not in a good way. He promptly pushed him off and got up. "What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" he asked, worried that he'd done something wrong.

"No," Sasuke lied. "Nothing is wrong, I just hurt my back earlier," he told him, but it wasn't the whole truth. "I'm tired," he said, quickly walking out of the room before Naruto could say anything. He hated the hurt look on Naruto's face but it was better than him telling the blond and having Naruto get hurt because of him. He could take the pain, but he didn't want Naruto to have to go through it too.

Sasuke turned on his side, not daring to look at the blond when he walked into the room. He could feel Naruto lay next to him, but he didn't make a move to pull him close. It hurt him to not be able to tell Naruto something, but he knew it was for the best, Naruto couldn't know. He'd handle it on his own; he only wished that he could get the images of earlier that night out of his head.

_**Flashback**_

_Sasuke had been careful. He was trying his best not to be put into a situation where Orochimaru could find him; unfortunately he hadn't planned on staying late. He knew what happened the last time, but he had lost track of time and he was there alone in the building. Security was supposed to keep a look out for him, but they hadn't done a good job before. _

_He thought that he was in the clear once he'd made it to the elevator, but then it stopped on the thirteenth floor. He knew it wasn't just a coincidence. The doors opened to reveal the one person he hated the most. He wasn't worried because he knew the elevator had cameras, but the worry came back when the other man seemed to know where every camera was. "Hello Sasuke," he hissed._

"_Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" the younger man said, trying to stay strong once again._

"_Since when did I listen?" Orochimaru asked sadistically. He pushed Sasuke back against the rail of the elevator. He knew by the force it hit that it would leave a bruise. "I've missed this," he said before giving another blow, making Sasuke's back hit against it once again. Sasuke held in any noises of pain, which only made Orochimaru angrier. The elevator door rang as they got to the bottom floor. Sasuke was just happier the ride wasn't longer and that the other man didn't stop the elevator at some point. When the doors opened Sasuke bolted out of the elevator, hearing the man's evil laugh as he said, "See you soon." Those words made Sasuke feel as if the worst was yet to come._

_**End Flashback**_

Sasuke found it hard to sleep as he remembered Orochimaru's words. Pretending to be fine was getting increasingly difficult. Naruto didn't touch him, but he could feel his eyes on him. He wanted to tell him everything, he wanted to have Naruto hold him, but he couldn't. He wouldn't bring Naruto into the mess that had started.

**NS**

"How is it going?" Orochimaru asked. "I need to know where we stand on this deal," he told the other man. They were trying not to be seen together, it could ruin everything. If someone spotted them it could possibly end and their deal was too good to let it end.

"He seems to trust me," the man told him. "The boyfriend is posing a problem, but I'm sure with your help he'll pull away from him soon enough," he said. "You just make sure you keep up your end and I'll keep up mine. He'll never know what actually happened," the man said before looking at Orochimaru. They each were making a deal with the devil, but neither one of them knew which would win that deal in the end. They played it off to seem like a win-win situation, but both of them knew only one of them would fully get what they wanted in the end.

"You better hurry, I'm not a patient man," the golden eyed man said. "Just remember our deal," he threatened. He didn't want anything to come in between him and his goals. He knew what he wanted and was sure he knew what the outcome would be. He didn't care for other people's feelings so long as he had the power over Sasuke.

"I know how you feed off of Sasuke's fears, don't worry," he said. "The more fear you cause him, the more he'll push Naruto away," he told the dark haired man. "Just remember, I'll continue telling you where he'll be as long as you back off once he is mine," he said, thinking they had the perfect plan. "You'll have your fun, then I'll get mine," he said.

Orochimaru grinned, "I remember, and don't forget, if he rejects you, he's all mine." The other man nodded and prepared to part ways. "It's good doing business with you, Haru," he said with a sinister grin before leaving.

**TBC…**

**Let me know what you think :) **


	10. What Was I Thinking?

**Okay, so one of my readers Dovahkiin's Reckoning sent me the sweetest review so I wanna give them a shout out and tell all of you to check out their NaruSasu story "Now or Never" They are new to writing but it looks like it has a lot of potential - so make sure to check it out and leave Dova a review – as I said really nice person, they deserve some readers/reviewers – it's posted on here so make sure to check it out :)**

**Here's the link: s/8784486/1/Now-or-Never**

**Also, make sure to thank Dova, their message made me want to write this chapter sooner**

**As always, I own nothing, enjoy and please review **

**Sorry I've been taking so long to update – but school is done until January so hopefully I can get some chapters out fairly quick :)**

**Inspired by the Theory of a Deadman song What Was I Thinking**

**Chapter 10: What Was I Thinking**

Hinata had so many thoughts swirling through her head. Sakura and Sai's secret was plaguing her mind, knowing that either way she was being a bad friend. What was worse, not telling Ino or telling her and possibility ruining two relationships? If she said nothing then Ino and Lee would be completely ignorant of the situation, but it'd also mean that she'd be letting them get away with cheating.

Then there was the problem of Haru. She had no proof that he wasn't to be trusted, but her gut told her that he was no good. She didn't think it'd ruin Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, but it could because it could cause a fight. Hinata was more confused than ever. "What should I do?" she mumbled to herself.

"What's wrong?" she heard a voice ask from the doorway. The conflicted girl looked up to see Neji standing in front of her. The longhaired man looked worried and she knew it was because of her. "You look like shit," he told her as he sat next to her.

"I feel like shit," she frowned, surprising him. The timid girl didn't often cuss; it confirmed that something was wrong. "I just don't know what to do, I'm so confused," she admitted, burying her head in her hands. She was on the verge of tears as she thought more about her predicament.

"I can't help if you don't tell me," he pointed out calmly. Neji didn't want to sound rude, knowing it'd just make the situation worse. It had to be bad if Hinata was so distraught. In high school he wouldn't have been worried because she was often concerned about everything and everyone. However, she'd grown up and was more confident, things didn't shake her as easily as they once had.

"I know some things that I shouldn't know," she told him, not wanting to tell him everything. "Things that could ruin relationships," she added, not making eye contact with him. Hinata didn't want to tell him because he might say something and she wasn't sure if she were going to tell anyone.

"I see," he replied. He didn't want to push her to tell him what it was but he also wanted to help. "Anything that can ruin a relationship shouldn't be kept secret, you know that Hinata," Neji told her, knowing that the right thing to do would be to let her knowledge be known. "Perhaps it was fate that you found out about this thing, maybe you were supposed to tell," he reasoned.

She thought about his words while nodding. Hinata still wasn't sure what she'd do but Neji did make a good point. It was true that if a relationship was meant to last then it would despite any hardships it may face. It was fate, right? "I guess," she said, still as conflicted as she had been before the conversation.

**NS**

He was just out getting a coffee when he saw them. It was pure coincidence, but he was glad that he did. Kiba knew that they didn't see him and he planned to keep it that way because it would be awkward to explain why he was spying on his ex-boyfriend and the new guy in his life. He wasn't sure if they were actually dating or not, but he knew that they were on a date. Kiba wasn't sure why but he felt anger build as he watched them. He knew that he could be mad because he dumped Suigetsu; it was his fault that they had broken up. Part of him always wished that Suigetsu would never find someone else; he knew it would hurt to see the other man move on. It was selfish of him to feel that way but he couldn't help how he felt.

Kiba watched as Suigetsu laughed at something Ryuu had said and it made his heart sink. It felt wrong to see some other guy make Suigetsu feel the way he once had. "That'd be fun," he heard Suigetsu say, "I'll see if Sasuke and Naruto want to come with." Those words hurt the most, knowing that they'd used to go on double dates with Naruto and Sasuke. "I think they'd like you," Suigetsu said with a smile. It was the smile that used to be reserved for him, but he hadn't received that smile for four years.

"I'd love to get to know them better," Ryuu admitted. The look they shared let Kiba know that they were starting to get serious. What he didn't know was that Suigetsu was hesitant and that he couldn't truthfully say that his whole heart was in it. Kiba couldn't stand to see them together so he turned away and walked away. He was clueless to the fact that Suigetsu had seen him. He didn't know that the smile was to pretend that he had moved on.

**NS**

Naruto was sitting on his couch flipping through the channels. He had been working from home and decided that it was time for a break. Sasuke was at work so he was able to watch the stupid things that Sasuke hated, laughing at the stupid jokes. He was pulled away from the show when there was a knock on the door. He sighed, thinking it was just a sales person that he'd quickly get rid of. He opened the door to be surprised by Hinata standing in front of him. It was then that he'd wished he'd changed out of his pajamas, "Hey, what are you doing here?" He knew that he sounded rude, but he wasn't sure what else to say.

"I needed to talk to you about something," she told him, getting nervous as she stood in front of the door. "Can I come in?" she asked nervously. He quickly nodded and moved aside for her to come in. "Your office said you were working from home," she told him, letting him know how she knew he would be home.

"Oh, what's up?" he asked, confused as to why she would come over. They were friends but it wasn't as if they'd hung out just them, it was always in a group.

"I just wanted to ask you something," she told him, not sure if it was a good idea to be there and tell him about her suspicions. He signaled for her to continue, so she did, "How much do you know about Haru?" He looked surprised so before he could say anything she continued, "I don't mean to intrude, but he just seems overly nice. I'm not sure that someone can be too nice, but first he's helping plan Aimi and Kiba's engagement party and now her bachelorette party, it just seems weird to me." She knew that she was talking fast and throwing everything at him at once.

"Wait, so you think he's up to something too?" he asked and she nodded. "I do too," he told her, "Sasuke's just blind to it. For someone so smart he can be really stupid." She didn't say anything; instead she let him continue, "Thanks Hinata, I need to talk to Sasuke."

"You're welcome," she stuttered. She had a feeling that what she'd just done was going to cause a fight and felt terrible. She knew that telling Naruto might cause a fight, but telling Ino and Lee would cause an even worse storm.

**NS**

Sasuke was exhausted when he'd gotten home. It had been a long day filled with piles of paperwork and stupid calls. "Hey," he said as he collapsed next to his boyfriend. "What's wrong?" he asked when he didn't get his usual response. The other man didn't answer so Sasuke tried to pull him out of his trance, "Naruto?"

"Oh, he babe," the blond said, but Sasuke just gave him a confused look. The raised eyebrow made Naruto know that he had to explain what was going on. "How well do Haru?" he asked just like Hinata had asked him.

"Seriously?" Sasuke asked as he stood up. "I've already had a long day, now you have to start this conversation?" he asked, clearly annoyed. "Can't you just drop it already? Can't you just trust _me_?" he emphasized that even if he didn't trust Haru Naruto should at least trust him.

"I do trust you," he told Sasuke. "I don't trust _him_," he said, trying to make Sasuke know that it had nothing to do with him, just Haru. "And I'm not the only one," he said, even though he knew that he shouldn't bring Hinata into the mix. "Hinata is even suspicious and she likes almost everyone," he said.

"Seriously?" Sasuke asked, still annoyed. "I don't care what she thinks, if you trust me then you shouldn't worry," he said, trust was a big deal to Sasuke and he was starting to feel that Naruto no longer trusted him. "I can't believe this," he said, stressed as he started walking toward their bedroom.

Naruto quickly followed, he didn't want to start a fight, but he knew it was too late for that. "Come on babe," he pleaded, but all he got was a pillow thrown at his head. "You can't seriously be making me sleep on the couch because of this," he sighed. All he got was Sasuke shutting and locking the door, "Or maybe you can." He frowned and walked back to the couch. It was such a stupid thing to fight about, but he knew that he never should have brought it up. It was all about trust and Sasuke wasn't easy to trust people and certainly didn't like feeling as if he weren't trusted.

**NS**

Hinata, Ino, Sakura, and Aimi sat in a café as they talked about Aimi's wedding and the parties they were planning. "I can't believe you guys are finally getting married," Sakura said, "It just makes me want to plan my own. Unfortunately Lee's parents want us to wait a little while."

"That's because his parents want to make sure you aren't going to dump him," Ino laughed. "Think of how long it took you guys to finally start dating, you weren't exactly receptive of his advances at first," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's been four years, you think they'd realize that we're in love by now," she said with a sigh.

Hinata felt the need to speak up. She didn't know how Sakura could say that when she had cheated on him not long before. She bit her lip, trying to keep quiet, but as the pink haired woman continued to talk she couldn't hold it in any longer. "I saw you and Sai," she said, quickly covering her mouth once it came out.

"What?" Ino and Sakura asked at the same time, equally mad for extremely different reasons. "What is she talking about?" the blond asked as she looked at whom she thought was her best friend. Sakura remained quiet so she turned toward Hinata, "What are you talking about?"

"I went looking for Sakura the night after the party," she mumbled as she looked down at her hands. "She and Sai were talking about their," she looked for the right words, "rendezvous the night before." She saw that Sakura was furious so she quickly added, "But they had been drunk, they couldn't have known what they were doing."

"I can't believe this," Ino said as she stood up. "How could you do this? You say that you love Lee yet you're fucking my boyfriend behind my back?" she asked, angry and hurt at the same time, "How could you betray me like this?"

"It was one time," Sakura said desperately trying to explain. "I know it doesn't make it better but we were drunk. He drove me home and it just happened, I'm sorry," she never wanted the secret to come out, yet there she was trying to explain. "I don't even like him I don't know why it happened," she was on the verge of tears when she saw the way Ino looked at her with hate.

"You're right, that doesn't make it better," Ino says. "I thought you were my best friend, but friends don't do that to each other," she tried to hold back her tears. It hurt to find out that the one person she trusted the most would go behind her back and sleep with her boyfriend.

"You're going to let one drunken night ruin our friendship?" she asked. "I already know that Lee is going to leave me, but I can't lose you too," she pleaded. "We've been friends for years, you and Sai have been off and on more times than anyone else that I've known but we've always been friends even when we were fighting over Sasuke years ago," Sakura cried.

"No, you can't blame me for this," Ino argued. "_You_ are the one that let one night ruin our friendship because you are the one that slept with my boyfriend, or I should say now ex-boyfriend," she was now crying too. She let the conversation end as she grabbed her purse and started to walk away. She wouldn't listen to anything her former friend had to say.

"I can't believe you Hinata," Sakura said as she turned to the dark haired girl. "You know that it was a mistake yet you still told her. You had to have known this would happen," she said, angry and sad. "I thought we were friends, how could you do this?" Sakura asked, even though she knew it wasn't entirely her fault.

"Don't blame her," Aimi argued. "You were the one that slept with him, not Hinata," she told Sakura. "You really did do this to yourself," she added, but that didn't help. Sakura just cried and walked away, not knowing what to do. Aimi looked at Hinata and could tell the girl was about to cry. "This isn't your fault, you were just trying to help a friend," she told her.

"I know, but that doesn't make me feel any better," Hinata stuttered. She thought about what Neji had told her about fate and it made her feel a little better. "Neji told me that if it were meant to be then fate would make it so," she told the other woman, "Do you believe that?" She was looking for reassurance, even though she couldn't help but feel bad for ruining two relationships and years of friendship.

"Yes," Aimi said, trying to make Hinata feel better about her actions. "It'll all work out in the end," she said, though she wasn't sure that it would. "If they really are as good as friends as they say then they'll forgive each other, just give it some time. Relationships come and go but friendship is forever, right?" she saw Hinata relax and just hoped that she was right.

**TBC…**

**Sorry it took so long to update but I hope you all liked it…also sorry for the lack of NaruSasu in this chapter but their fight is necessary…just give it time…**


	11. Mad

**Thanks for the few of you that did review…not sure why there is a big drop in the numbers from one chapter to the other but hopefully even if you aren't reviewing you still like the story…not sure if the story isn't good or if people just aren't reviewing but I'll still post for those of you that are still reading…**

**Those of you that are really mad at Hinata you need to think about how you would feel if you were in her position…Ignorance isn't always bliss and I don't think that friends should keep those kind of secrets from the other **

**Anyway, I own nothing, enjoy and please review**

**Song for this chapter: Mad by Ne-Yo**

**Chapter 11: Mad**

It had been three days and the silence was killing Naruto. Sasuke had let him back into their room but the silence was still there. He hardly talked to him unless it was necessary. They both knew that Sasuke was kind of overreacting but he was mad that Naruto had questioned his fidelity. He was mad that Naruto would even consider that Sasuke would cheat on him. It was difficult to lie in bed with the one he loved and not speak at all.

"Babe," Naruto started as he turned on his side to look at his lover. Sasuke didn't look at him and he felt his heart break a little more. He moved closer to him, "I'm sorry, you know that I trust you. You have to know that it's him that I don't trust, I don't want him doing anything to you." He went to touch him but Sasuke just moved further away. "I don't want to go to another day fighting, I love you. Our relationship was never perfect, but you know we can make it through anything," Naruto said, not backing down.

Sasuke finally turned to look at him as he sat up, Naruto thought that was a good sign until the other man spoke, "That's because I always thought that you trusted me." Naruto looked as if he were going to say something but Sasuke didn't let him, "You say it's Haru that you don't trust but if you trust me as much as you say then it shouldn't be a problem. If you know that I won't hurt you then you should know that anything he tries wouldn't be reciprocated."

"I know they won't," Naruto said as he sat up. "I know that you'd never do that to me," he looked down, "but that doesn't mean he won't try anything. I don't trust him and I don't want anything to happen to you. I don't want him to hurt you or even touch you." Naruto went to touch him again but Sasuke just moved off of the bed and stood up. He grabbed some of his things and started to put them in a bag, "Where are you going?"

"I need to think," Sasuke told him. "I don't know how we can have a relationship if you can't trust me," he said, "and don't say that you do because you know that I can defend myself and that I wouldn't let him do anything." He sighed, "I'll be at Suigetsu's place. Just give me some space to think this all over."

Naruto couldn't say another word before Sasuke walked out of the room. He heard the front door shut as he fell back onto the bed. Naruto felt like crying but he wouldn't let himself. As much as it hurt to see Sasuke left he knew that he had to just make it his mission to get him back. Sasuke didn't break up with him and he had to make sure that he never would.

**NS**

"Hey," Sasuke said as he walked into Suigetsu's house. He'd called his best friend on his way over and he knew that he could just walk in. They were always there for each other when they needed the other. Other than Naruto, Suigetsu knew him better than anyone else. He knew almost everything, "I don't know what to do," he told him as he plopped down onto the couch.

"What's going on?" Suigetsu asked as he sat next to him. "I can't really help if you don't tell me what's wrong," he told him.

"I'm fighting with Naruto," he said with a sigh. "He keeps telling me how much he doesn't trust Haru; he thinks that he's going to try something," he said, "I just feels as if he doesn't trust me." Suigetsu nodded, knowing to just let Sasuke vent, "I mean how can we have a relationship when it feels like he doesn't trust me enough to know that nothing will happen?"

"You're kind of overreacting," Suigetsu told him. Sasuke shot him a glare, which just made Suigetsu chuckle, "You know that I'm right. Wouldn't you be a little suspicious of anyone that acted that way around Naruto?" He knew that Sasuke would be more than a little jealous of anyone from Naruto's past relationships even if he had no reason to be.

"I guess," Sasuke mumbled. "You should be on my side, you're my best friend not his," he grumbled. He hated when anyone made a good point that contradicted his.

"You're right, he doesn't trust you. He just thinks that you'll leave him for any attractive guy. You should just dump him now because he's just such a horrible boyfriend," Suigetsu said sarcastically. Sasuke shot him another nasty look, which just made Suigetsu laugh a little, "You know that doesn't work on me anymore. But seriously, as your best friend it's my job to tell you when you are acting stupid and right now you're acting stupid."

"Gee thanks," Sasuke responded, clearly annoyed. He knew that he probably was acting stupid, it wasn't as if Naruto had accused him of cheating, he was just worried that Haru would try something. "I never point out how stupid you're being when it comes to Kiba. When it comes to him you act stupid too," he said. He saw the frown on Suigetsu's face and he knew that something was wrong so he asked, "Did something happen regarding the idiot?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "I was out on a date with Ryuu and suddenly Kiba appears. I'm sure it was just a coincidence but then he started spying on us. It was really weird but then I felt like I had to act like I've completely moved on. I know that I'm trying to but I'm not yet. It's kind of pathetic," he told Sasuke. He let out a deep breath as het thought about it, hating himself for still having the feelings for the other man.

"As I've said before, the guy's an idiot," Sasuke told him. "He was manipulated by his family and that stupid bitch," he said, though it didn't make Suigetsu feel better. "Ryuu seems like a great guy," Sasuke reminded him, "and Kiba doesn't deserve you." Suigetsu knew that he was right, but it was difficult to let go of your first true love. He just nodded, he truly did agree with Sasuke, but that didn't change how he felt about Kiba. "Is it cool if I stay here tonight? I may forgive the idiot but that doesn't mean that I'm going to let him know that just yet," Sasuke asked.

"You're such an asshole," Suigetsu laughed, "But yeah, that's fine." Suigetsu just sighed as he said, "I thought all this relationship drama was done after college."

**NS**

"I'm such an idiot," Naruto told Kiba as he talked to him on the phone.

"Tell me something I don't know," Kiba laughed. He knew that Sasuke and Naruto had been fighting but he didn't know to what extent. He thought it was just one of their little spats where Sasuke was being an asshole and Naruto was acting stupid.

"I'm serious," Naruto said, sounding almost desperate. He felt desperate for advice on how to make it up to Sasuke. "He's so mad that he went to Suigetsu's house instead of trying to make up. He's really pissed and feels like I don't trust him. I think I really screwed up this time," he told his best friend. He didn't want it to be the end of their relationship just because he was acting stupid.

"He's an asshole, maybe it's for the best," Kiba said, writing it off as if it were nothing. He never was Sasuke's biggest fan, they just tolerated each other before, but after the Aimi thing they really didn't like each other. "I'm sure that you can find some other guy, one that isn't such an ass," he said.

"You're really not helping," Naruto said. He wanted advice on how to get him back, not how to break up with him. He loved Sasuke; he wouldn't let it be the end of their relationship. "I love him, can't you just support that like a good best friend?" he asked, frustrated with the whole situation. He was pacing his kitchen as they talked, too worked up to stay still.

"Fine," Kiba groaned. "Just give him time, you guys have always made up before," he said. "What does Neji say? If it's meant to be fate will make it so," he said, though his whole heart wasn't in it. He didn't care; he knew either way it'd work out. Naruto could find someone else or would be so persistent that he'd get Sasuke back. He was probably acting like an asshole, but it was one in the morning and Sasuke was the last thing he wanted to talk about at one in the morning. He wanted to sleep and didn't understand why the conversation couldn't wait until the morning.

"I know, but he's really mad," Naruto replied. "I can't lose him and it feels like I am," he told Kiba. He truly felt as if Sasuke was slipping away from him and that there was nothing he could do about it. Losing Sasuke would mean losing a part of himself. He never believed that a person could complete another, but he didn't want to lose Sasuke. He could live without him, he didn't need him to survive, but he didn't want to go on without him. Sasuke was a part of his life and he never wanted that to change.

"Can this conversation wait until the morning?" Kiba yawned, ignoring that it was technically the morning. Aimi was looking annoyed, as she had woken up when his phone rang, "If it can't then I may be in same boat as you."

"Yeah," Naruto said, "sorry." They hung up but Naruto still couldn't sleep. None of Kiba's words helped, he was just looking for a solution. He couldn't the fight last four days; he vowed to make up with Sasuke the next day no matter what it took.

**TBC…**

**Sorry it is a short chapter but I wanted to focus on Naruto and Sasuke's relationship for this chapter and I wanted to post it today…**

**Let me know what you think :) Good? Bad? Horrible? **


	12. The Mess I Made

**Okay so there was a anonymous "guest" reader that left me a very long review that I'm going to respond to before I start the chapter: I'm honestly still going back and forth over whether or not Suigetsu and Kiba will get back together…however, if they do you need to remember that it's easy to say from an outsiders point of view how much he hurt Suigetsu and that he shouldn't go back to him…Suigetsu does know this, I feel that I made that pretty clear if not I will later – however when you're in love it's much more difficult to say no…You mention how Kiba went with his family's words and you also have to remember that if family is important to you then they can influence you a lot no matter how much you love a person deep down most people still want their family's approval and the only reason he really proposed was because of all of Naruto's talk about marriage…I'm not sure if you've ever really been in love, but if you have then you should know it's not easy to let that person go and if you're not over them it can be easy for them to come back into your life even if you know they shouldn't – If I do get them back together Kiba is going to have to learn a lot and prove to Suigetsu he's changed, it won't be automatic that he and Aimi break up and Suigetsu runs back into his arms…**

**Thanks to those that reviewed it's always appreciated**

**Sorry for taking so long to update – I haven't been very inspired lately and then there were the holidays and my internet going down for a while so that would be why it took so long…**

**Anyway, I own nothing, enjoy and please review :)**

**Chapter 12: The Mess I Made**

The minute Sasuke walked into the door Naruto started apologizing. He didn't know that Sasuke had already forgiven him and was just making him grovel before he told him. "Please Sasuke, this is such a stupid fight. You know I trust you and love you, I don't want to be fighting," he pleaded. Sasuke just looked at him, ready to say something, but Naruto cut him off, "I know you're mad but we've always gotten through everything else and I don't want to be over because of my stupidity. I want forever." He paused a moment before blurting out, "Will you marry me?" He didn't mean for it to come out but it did.

"Excuse me?" Sasuke said, obviously surprised. He had only been expecting Naruto to ask for forgiveness, not a marriage proposal. "Naruto," he started, not knowing what to say. He saw the nervous look on the blonde's face and he knew the next words out of his mouth would crush him, "You know that I don't want to get married."

"I know," Naruto replied. "I just do, I want forever," he told him, but knew he wasn't going to get the response he wanted. "I didn't mean for the words to come out, but I can't say that I'm sorry they did, I love you," he told him. It was difficult as they looked at each other, knowing that they wanted different things.

"I can't, not right now," Sasuke told him, feeling horrible as Naruto gave him the most disappointed look he'd ever seen. "I'm sorry," he softly said as he looked down, "I'm not ready to get married."

"I know," Naruto said before they stood in silence. The tension between them was thick and neither knew what to say. The blond looked at the ground, part of him wishing he wouldn't have said anything but the other happy that he did. It put everything out there and it was something they needed to talk about.

Sasuke did what he was good at and turned to leave as he said, "I need to think." It hurt to leave the conversation, but it needed to end there. If it continued he knew that some things may be said that neither of them meant. He didn't want their relationship to end but they both needed to think about what was said. "I'm going for a walk, alone," he told him, Naruto just nodded before Sasuke walked out the door.

"Damn it," Naruto said under his breath. He could only hope that his words didn't end their relationship. He knew that it wasn't a fight they were in; it was just Sasuke's need to think. Naruto told himself that everything would be fine; they'd gotten through everything else. Sasuke wasn't ready then, but he just hoped that Sasuke realized that he would wait for him to be ready.

Naruto didn't know why, but he called Kiba. After their conversation the night before he knew that Kiba would probably just be an asshole but he needed someone to talk to. The phone rang a few times before Kiba answered, "Hello?"

"I messed up," Naruto told him. He wanted someone else to assure him that everything would be alright, though he knew his best friend probably wasn't he best choice. "I asked Sasuke to marry me and he said no. It was stupid of me, we were in a fight and I just wanted it to end," he sighed.

Though he couldn't see him, Kiba nodded and understood, "Oh." There was a moment of silence before he said, "You guys will be fine. He didn't break up with you, right?"

"No, he just left," Naruto told him as he sat on the couch. He knew better than to chase after Sasuke when the other man needed his space. "It's just, he doesn't want to and I don't know if he ever will," he frowned. He wanted nothing more than to be with Sasuke forever and when the other man didn't want to marry him it made him question if he wanted the same thing.

"If he was going to dump you he would have already," Kiba reassured him. Though he and Sasuke didn't like each other, he knew the man well enough to know that just because he needed space it didn't mean that he was going to break up with Naruto. "He loves you," Kiba told him, "a marriage proposal isn't going to change that."

"Is this the same asshole I talked to last night?" Naruto asked. "The Kiba last night told me to break up with Sasuke and acted as if me and Sasuke just weren't meant to be," he pointed out. He was happy that Kiba wasn't acting the same as he did when he'd called him early in the morning, but he was wondering what caused the change of heart.

"I know I was a jerk but you woke me and Aimi up and let me tell you she was not happy," Kiba told him. He looked around to make sure his fiancée wasn't in the room before saying, "Sasuke just reminds me of Suigetsu." Naruto understood where the conversation was going and knew it was one Kiba needed to have. "I know I shouldn't, but I can't help but miss him sometimes. I have a girlfriend and I love her but it's just hard sometimes," he admitted both to Naruto and himself.

"Fiancée," Naruto corrected. "You said girlfriend but she is your fiancée," he reminded him, "is that what you want?" When Kiba didn't answer him he told him, "If you don't love her then you shouldn't marry her. I know that you hurt Suigetsu but I'm pretty sure that he isn't over you either."

"I do love her," Kiba said as if he were trying to convince himself. Being engaged made him think of everything, especially Suigetsu, and question everything. He'd believed that he loved Aimi, but every time he thought of Suigetsu it hurt as if he ruined something special.

"Just not the way that you should," Naruto finished for him. He did think that Kiba loved Aimi, but it was more as a friend than as a fiancée. Naruto was sure that Kiba was confused because of all the opinions that were thrown at him four years prior. The blond always wondered if his friend truly didn't want to be with Suigetsu or if he had been manipulated and Kiba's words made him confirm that it was the latter.

"It doesn't matter now, I'm getting married," Kiba replied. "Aimi's a great girl," he said as if he were telling himself the reasons he should marry her, "and I love her. Its probably just pre-wedding jitters. That happens to some people, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto said. "But for some people there's a reason," he added. "If you're questioning her then maybe there's a reason. You know that I hate to be the voice of reason, but if you loved her then would you really be thinking about your ex so much? Jitters are usually about commitment, not about if you're still in love with your ex from four years ago," the blond said. He may be bias because he'd always like the idea of Suigetsu and Kiba together, but they both knew his words made sense.

"Let's just talk about something else, this is supposed to be about you and Sasuke," Kiba changed the subject. He was uncomfortable talking about Suigetsu and his feelings. He didn't like thinking that the real reason he hated Sasuke so much was because of Suigetsu. He loved Aimi and he was going to marry her, that's how it was going to be, end of story.

**NS**

Sasuke's mind was racing. He loved Naruto but marriage was so final, it could change things. Everything was good how it was, why did they need to get married? All marriage was, was a certificate and a title. It was just a status that was unnecessary. It hurt to reject Naruto, but he just didn't feel ready. One would think that because he didn't have a normal family most of his life that he'd want one, but the idea just scared him. Change in general scared him, moving in with someone was one thing but being married was just a whole other level.

Sasuke wasn't even sure why he was so scared of getting married. Perhaps it was because marriage was so final. It assured that when you died someone would be left alone; someone would be hurt. It was true that any relationship was like that, but it assured that it would be that way. Also, almost fifty percent of marriages ended in divorce and he didn't want to be another statistic. He wondered if marriage changed things to the point that it naturally led to the break up of couples.

Before his thoughts continued he heard a noise behind him. He became uncomfortable and wondered if he were just paranoid. With Orochimaru reentering his life it made him overly sensitive. Everything made him wonder if it were the man of his nightmares in the shadows. Sasuke brushed it off, hoping that it was just his imagination but then he felt someone's breath on his neck. "I told you we'd see each other again," the man said causing Sasuke to go ridged.

Sasuke wanted to run but his body just wouldn't move. Years of fear caused him to become almost paralyzed, "Leave me alone." He tried to sound strong but he knew that he probably didn't. He'd once thought that he'd never see Orochimaru again but he was obviously wrong.

"It's disappointing that we can't see each other more often," he said as he lightly touched Sasuke's arm. The younger man knew that it would stay light for long and he was right when Orochimaru roughly grabbed his arm and turned him around. Sasuke tried to pull his arm away as he finally came to his senses. "Don't fight it," Orochimaru demanded as he tightened his grip. He threw Sasuke to the ground and before Sasuke could move to get up he was kicked in the gut. He fell back to the ground before hearing voices nearby. It seemed Orochimaru heard it too, " You're lucky, think of this as a warm up."

Sasuke despised those words. Even more so he despised that he'd felt so weak against the man. His childhood fears made it difficult for him to fight back against the man he'd feared most of his life. "Damn it," he said as he got up and Orochimaru disappeared. He leaned against a nearby wall hating the feeling of pain and fear that plagued him. As he clutched his stomach he knew that there would be a bruise both on his stomach and back. The stomach bruise from the kick and back from how he'd fallen on it. One thing was for sure; if Naruto saw the bruises then they'd be hard to explain without telling him everything. He didn't like keeping secrets but he felt that he needed to handle Orochimaru on his own.

**NS**

Kiba felt kind of like a stalker in that moment. He knew that he needed to talk to Suigetsu but watching him from afar made it feel creepy. This time seeing him wasn't an accident because he just went to Suigetsu's favorite place to eat lunch and knew he'd find him there. Unfortunately for him Aimi had wanted to tag along. It wasn't as if he could tell her that he wanted to talk to his ex-boyfriend alone, that probably wouldn't go over very well. He tried to find and excuse for her leave so he could finally talk to the other man but nothing came to him.

"Do you mind if we stop in that store really quick, I need to pick up some shoe inserts, my new shoes are killing my feet?" she asked as she pointed toward the shoe store on the corner. He saw it as a perfect opportunity; no girl could walk into a shoe store and only take a few minutes.

"You know how I hate shoe stores," he sighed. "Why don't you just go in, I'll wait out here, I'm sure I can find something to do," he said, she just rolled her eyes but nodded. Once she was fully out of sight he made his move. Kiba quickly walked over to the outside table Suigetsu was sitting at and sat across from him.

Suigetsu looked at him, slightly surprised, "What do you want?" He tried to sound as uninterested as he could, but he was confused as to why his ex would suddenly show up. "Did Naruto send you over here?" he asked, annoyed because he knew the blond was usually behind it whenever they interacted.

"No," he responded. It was partially a lie since Naruto was the reason he'd felt the need to talk to the other man. "I need to talk to you," he said, feeling nervous as he looked at Suigetsu. The other man just signaled for him to continue so he said, "I need closure. I'm getting married yet all I can think of is you and I don't know why." Not only was he admitting it to Suigetsu but also to himself.

Suigetsu looked surprised, but also angry. "You dumped me four years ago, isn't that enough closure for you?" he asked, wishing that the other man could just stay out of his life. "It's not me that keeps coming to you, it's you that keeps coming to me. You're getting married, I think you're over me," he said. "You love her, right?" he asked, bitter about the entire situation.

"I think," Kiba admitted. Suigetsu gave him a look and Kiba quickly corrected himself, "I mean yes. I love her." It wasn't a lie, he did have feelings for her, he just wasn't sure they were as strong as his feelings for the man sitting across from him. "I just want to talk, we ended on such a bad note and it's killing me," he told him, hating the fact that they were fighting for four years. He didn't want to fight; he never liked fighting with the light haired man even if it was his own fault.

"You didn't want to talk when you kissed me after your engagement party," Suigetsu reminded him, but he didn't look him in the eye, instead he was looking behind him. Kiba heard a gasp behind him and quickly turned his head to see Aimi standing there wide eyed and clearly hurt. "I think we can both agree that this conversation is over, I think there's someone else you need to talk to," Suigetsu said as he got up, leaving the couple to talk. He knew it was wrong of him to say that in front of Aimi, but he couldn't help it because he felt that Kiba deserved it.

"It was a one time thing," Kiba quickly said as he looked at Aimi. He could see she was hurt and possibly on the verge of crying. She didn't say anything but they both knew that she had so many questions. While they didn't break up both of them knew that their relationship was on thin ice. Neither of them was sure it would last, but they both wanted to try. She just wondered if it were for the same reasons. She loved him, but she was starting to question if he loved her back.

**TBC…**

**Like it? Hate it? Let me know**

**I was going to add Sakura, Lee, Ino, and Sai's relationships into this chapter but it just didn't feel right – it didn't really fit….**


	13. Give Your Heart a Break

**So sorry it's taken this long to update – I've had school and some family problems and then my Internet was down for a while – and I've just also had a lack of inspiration to write so sorry if this chapter sucks **

**I can tell that people are losing interest in the story as both the review and page view counts lessen with each chapter – but I'll finish the story for those awesome readers that I still have - yes I do read the reviews even if I forget to respond to them – you all are awesome, especially those that continually review on all or almost all chapters – you know who you are and should know that I do notice and appreciate it **

**As always I own nothing enjoy and please review**

**Chapter 13: Give Your Heart a Break**

Naruto and Sasuke sat next to each other on their couch. They sat in silence for what felt like hours but was truly only fifteen minutes. It was Naruto that broke the silence, "I want to say that I'm sorry, but I can't. I'm sorry that I proposed in the most idiotic way and probably the worst time, but I'm not sorry that I did. I want to get married." There was more silence and it made Naruto nervous, he didn't want it to be the end of them.

"Why do things have to change?" Sasuke asked quietly. He didn't look at Naruto because he didn't want to see the hurt expression that was probably written across his face. It hurt Sasuke to hurt Naruto, but he wasn't going to put aside his feelings when he knew he wasn't ready. For most people eight years would be enough, but he wasn't like most people, "I love you, but I don't want to get married."

Naruto nodded, he knew that the relationship wasn't ending. Sasuke had said those three words and he didn't say them easily. "I'm not going to push you," Naruto said, "whenever you're ready." The whole conversation made Naruto feel like a teenager talking about sex, but he wouldn't say that out loud. He was making progress, he wasn't going to make a joke that might piss Sasuke off; instead he just laughed about it in his own mind.

Sasuke moved closer to him before kissing the blond. It was a simple kiss but one that said they were okay, their relationship wasn't falling apart. "Maybe someday," he said with a small smile. He wasn't sure that that day would ever come but he loved Naruto and part of him hoped that he could eventually say he was ready for marriage.

"I love you," Naruto said as he pulled Sasuke into his arms. He thought that he saw Sasuke flinch for a moment when he'd touched his back, which confused him. However, when Sasuke gave him a small, but genuine, smile he didn't say anything. All he knew was that he'd keep an eye on it; he didn't want to ruin the moment with what could be another fight.

Sasuke shifted as Naruto hit a sore spot from the night before, he tried to hide the discomfort he was in by moving so that Naruto's hand was elsewhere on his back. He tried to make it nonchalant, as if he were just moving to cuddle with the blond, but he had a feeling that he wasn't very good at hiding the pain. He saw Naruto's confused look, but the blond didn't say anything so Sasuke acted as if nothing was wrong.

He knew that secrets were never good for a relationship, but he wanted to try to handle Orochimaru by himself. The man had haunted him for so long that he needed closure of his own. As he relaxed into Naruto's arms Sasuke hoped that his secrets wouldn't end up blowing up in his face.

**NS**

Hinata sat in the restaurant trying to figure out how everything had turned around on her. She'd invited Sakura and Ino to lunch in hopes that they could make up. Sakura had been hostile toward her but came to try to make up with Ino. Ino on the other hand came solely for Hinata, hating the idea of talking to her former best friend. She wasn't sure how they had somehow turned on her, banding together once they saw a man looking at her. It was clear that they both were still angry, but it also seemed that the idea of setting someone up overruled the hate.

"He's cute," Sakura said as she indicated toward the guy a few tables away. He had been looking at Hinata quite often since the girls had sat down and Sakura and Ino had definitely noticed. The guy had short brown hair and hazel eyes; he appeared to be around six feet tall and had a nice physique. He smiled when Hinata looked his way, causing the dark haired woman to turn bright red.

"You should totally go for him," Ino said to her. The topic had then strayed far from where Hinata was trying to take it. "Here, I'll introduce you," she said, never afraid to meet new people.

"Please don't," Hinata pleaded. The two girls didn't listen to her and instead Ino started walking toward his table. "Sakura you have to stop her," she said, but the pink haired woman just smiled and shook her head no. Hinata became even more embarrassed as she saw the man follow Ino back to the their table. "You've got to be kidding me," she said under her breath while she tried to keep her composure.

"Hinata this is Ken, Ken this is Hinata," Ino said as they reached the table. "Ken just transferred here for work," Ino informed her. All Hinata could wonder was how Ino could get so much information from someone in such a short period of time. She knew that she probably looked like a deer in headlights and that was exactly how she felt.

"Nice to meet you," she stuttered. Hinata had thought that she'd gotten over her stutter but it seemed to come back at inconvenient times. The guy didn't seem to care; in fact he just smiled as if it were cute. "Don't you think we should be leaving, we've been here all afternoon," Hinata said to her two friends.

Her words fell on deaf ears as they continued to talk to Ken. While she was the topic of conversation she felt completely invisible. It wasn't the first time the two other women had tried to hook her up with a guy and she knew that it never ended well. She knew by the end of the encounter they were going to give him her number and make sure that the man would be calling Hinata. She let out a sigh and let it happen, some battles aren't worth fighting.

**NS**

Neji heard Hinata's voice ring through the Hyuuga property and she seemed distressed. The man had been working out some things for the family so he and Gaara had visited the main house, where they then sat to relax before they planned to do some errands later. Gaara sensed his boyfriend stiffen when the voices came through the door. The both recognized it to be Hinata and the tone of her voice made Neji go into over protective mode.

"I don't need you guys to hook me up," Hinata said. She had finally broken down after so many times of them attempting to get her a man. The topic had obviously gotten Neji's attention. They all knew how the previously ended and none were good. Being good looking didn't mean that they guy would be a good person.

"I'm just trying to help," Ino said, ignoring the fact that Sakura was _helping_ as well. She figured that her introducing them meant Sakura wasn't need. Just because they agreed didn't mean that she forgave Sakura. It was for Hinata that she was being civil at all. "Just give him a chance," she encouraged but Hinata jut let out a huff.

"What are you guys doing to Hinata?" Neji quickly asked. He had gotten more over protective over the years as the two women started setting her up with what Neji would classify as losers. "You better not be setting her up with another creep," he warned.

"Don't worry Neji," Sakura assured. "_We_ found her a great guy," she said, looking toward Ino, indicating to her that she noticed she was being excluded. "He's cute and he seemed nice," she told him.

"Watch out Hinata, Sakura may want to sleep with him," Ino stated bitterly. Sakura just frowned and remembered that she was still mad at the dark haired woman. "_I _introduced them and you can trust _my_ judgment," she said. Sakura didn't add anything, knowing it'd just make things worse.

"That doesn't make me feel better," Neji told her, "your judgment has been wrong before." He looked at Hinata, "Ignore these two." He was on a mission to stop whatever may be happening with Hinata and the mysterious man.

"Don't you and Gaara have something better to do?" Ino asked, looking toward Gaara for help. She knew he didn't care if there was a fight; in fact he seemed to sometimes enjoy it, with the exception of Neji's involvement. Gaara just looked at her, pretending to be clueless, for a moment. His lack of words annoyed her, "I'm serious, Gaara, I'm sure you want to do something else."

"Let's go home Neji," Gaara finally said. Neji looked determined to stay until he added, "I have new toys I want to play with." The amused looks on Ino and Sakura's faces made Neji turn red, which was unusual for him. "Come on," Gaara ordered as he got up, though it may not have shown, his patience never lasted very long.

"We'll talk about this later," Neji told them. "You're lucky Gaara wants to leave," he added as he eagerly followed his boyfriend. His words were ignored as they faded away once the two exited the house.

"Now that he's gone," Sakura started, "you have to let us help you." Ino rolled her eyes at Sakura, annoyed that she was there. "Can you not roll your eyes like that?" Sakura snapped. "We're both trying to help her," she told her as the blonde let out a sigh and nodded.

"I appreciate the help," Hinata told them. "But I really don't want it," she added timidly. The other girls were so assertive that they tended to take over the conversation. It wasn't often that Hinata completely stuck up for herself with them. "I think you guys should go," she told them. "I'm tired," she lied, knowing that neither of them believed her.

Ino just nodded, knowing that it was a topic to be saved for later. She said her goodbyes and left. "Sakura," Hinata stopped her. She knew the other woman was mad at her and saw it as her chance to make it right. "I want us to be friends again," she said, not breaking eye contact like she normally would. "I'm sorry," she added before finally looking away once again.

"I know," Sakura said. She frowned as she looked at the ground. It was hard for her to forgive the person that broke up her friendship and possibly her relationship. The problem was that she knew it was truly her own fault for cheating in the first place. In high school and the first part of college she wouldn't have been able to admit when something was her fault, but she had grown up since then. "It's my own fault," she admitted under her breath.

Hinata was surprised by her answer. While it was softly spoken she had still heard it and it astonished her. "What?" she stuttered out utterly confused. She'd thought that Sakura was going to yell at her and tell her she was a horrible person.

"I was the one that cheated," she explained, knowing it wasn't right for her to take it out on Hinata. "It was pretty shitty of you to tell them without really talking to me, but I understand why," she said. She had given thought to what had happened and she knew that Hinata was too good of a friend to not tell someone when he or she had gotten cheated on.

"So, are we okay?" Hinata asked, hoping the answer would be yes. She bit her lip in anticipation. She wasn't sure if Sakura was just being cruel or if she were really thinking about it as she took a long pause. Hinata knew to wait patiently so that she didn't ruin things. Enough damage had already been caused by her in regards to relationships and especially their friendship so she didn't want to ruin it further.

"Yeah," Sakura finally said. She wasn't completely sure that things could go back to normal, but she was willing to try. Deep down Hinata was a good person and she knew that the other woman never meant any harm, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to fully trust her for a while. They said their goodbyes, leaving it on a high note as to not ruin anything that had been said between them.

**NS**

Suigetsu sat across from Ryuu in a small diner. It was nothing fancy, but it was calm and quiet. It was a nice change from the normal feelings that life had brought and it made Suigetsu happy. Ryuu made Suigetsu happy. He hadn't felt that way about a person in a long time, four years to be exact, and he knew it was what he needed. Ryuu was what he needed. "This is nice," he smiled as he ate the cheeseburger in front of him.

Ryuu smiled, "Yeah, it is." Their dates were never what either of them would call overly romantic and that was how they liked it. It was laid back and either was trying too hard to impress the other. While it was a nice change, Suigetsu wasn't sure what to think about it. It had been different with Kiba, they may not have been overly romantic but something felt different and Suigetsu wasn't completely sure if it was a good different.

As they talked over dinner the light haired man could only hope that Ryuu was the right kind of change. Nothing in his life had been easy after he and Kiba had broken up and Ryuu had changed that. His life certainly wasn't a walk in the park but when he was with Ryuu it didn't feel complicated. All he could do was smile and hope he was on his way to finally getting over Kiba and moving on with someone new.

**TBC…**

**I know a long wait for a not all that great chapter….I understand if people aren't really reading this anymore after I've taken so long to update but I hope those of you that are do like it and will continue reading…I'm on spring break this week so hopefully I'll be able to have time to write and post another chapter before I go back but I'm not promising anything….let me know what you think**


	14. California King Bed

**I'm so sorry for the long wait…school and work has kept me very busy **

**As always I own nothing **

**Recap: Naruto proposed making things awkward between the two and causing a fight. The two made up but Sasuke still doesn't tell him about Orochimaru reappearing. Sakura and Ino tolerate each other long enough to find her a possible boyfriend with Ken. Hinata doesn't want them to help. Sakura and Hinata made up. Ryuu and Suigetsu went on a date and Suigetsu hopes it could actually help him move on. **

**Chapter 14: California King Bed **

Sasuke and Naruto silently lay in bed. They were both awake and even days after they had made up; the distance between them was still there. Naruto didn't want the distance, but Sasuke wouldn't let him touch him. He didn't understand how they had started to grow apart but he knew that he didn't like it. "Sasuke are you awake?" he asked though he knew the answer.

Sasuke turned to face him it was clear he'd been awake for some time. He was wide-awake and past his usual grumpiness of having just woken up. "Yeah," he answered. The silence took over again as they just looked at each other. It was like a staring contest, only it was really about who would break and talk first.

Instead of talking Naruto moved to touch him. His arm moved toward Sasuke, hoping to pull him closer. Sasuke only moved further away, getting off the bed. Naruto's heart broke a little as his boyfriend avoided him. "What's going on?" Naruto asked, needing to understand. He didn't want it to be the end of their relationship but it felt as if Sasuke did.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, trying to play dumb. He knew what Naruto meant because he wouldn't let him touch him at all. The two used to cuddle and have sex almost every day and he knew that Naruto didn't understand why it would suddenly stop. He loved Naruto but he didn't want him to know what was going on, he didn't want him to know that Orochimaru kept showing up and he was powerless to the fact that he was causing more bruises every time.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Naruto said as he got out of bed and followed his lover into the bathroom. "You have been distant for a long time and I don't know what I did wrong. I don't understand why you have been pushing me away," he looked defeated and Sasuke hated knowing that he was hurting him.

"Nothing is going on," he told Naruto. He tried to leave the bathroom but Naruto had him cornered. "Move," he demanded. Sasuke felt like a caged animal, just like Orochimaru made him feel every time he saw him. He tried to push past the blond, but it didn't work.

"No, I need to know what's really going on," Naruto told him. He grabbed the hands that had been trying to push him away. "Stop pushing me away and let me know what is going on," he tried to be calm but he knew how angry he must have sounded. He was angry, he thought there were no secrets in their relationship. He had a million questions as to what might be making Sasuke act as he was.

Sasuke started to hyperventilate, feeling trapped and as if it were Orochimaru. He felt as if he were going to be hurt any second. His fight or flight system kicked in and he started to violently push Naruto away until he finally let go. The blond was confused as Sasuke ran out of the bathroom. He heard the man run down the stairs and out of the house. He knew that Sasuke had still been in his pajamas and didn't understand how a man that only ever went out of the house if he were "presentable" to the general public would run out without even changing.

He had thought that they had been over with that part of his life. Sasuke had always fought with him; he'd never run away. Even when they had fought in high school he never ran from him. He had never been afraid of him; he didn't understand what changed that. "Damn it," he cursed to himself.

**NS**

"What's going on?" Itachi asked as he sat in his home office. Naruto had called him and Kyuubi to meet him. It had sounded desperate and worried and once he'd said it was about Sasuke he couldn't refuse. Itachi made the two come to his home because he knew that they could have privacy there.

"It's about Sasuke," he told the two. They were the two people he knew that he could always go to for advice. They would never lie to him and Itachi would always be concerned when it dealt with his brother.

"You already told us that," Kyuubi reminded him. "What is it about him?" he asked, hating to see his brother so distraught. He sat in one of the chairs and watched as the blond paced back and forth in the office. He watched how Itachi covered his concern with an impatient annoyance.

"He's been really distant," he told them. "Tried to find out this morning and he only ran away from me, he's never acted like this toward me. He always fights he doesn't run away. He seemed scared of me and left without even changing from his pajamas;

I don't even know if he'd brushed his teeth," he informed the two men. "He's been distant for a long time. I don't know what's going on. At first I thought maybe he just wanted to break up but with the way he acted this morning I know it's something bigger," he was talking quickly but they both understood every word.

"You're just telling me this now?" Itachi asked angrily. He wanted to know when his brother was acting strange, it was important that he knew. Sasuke had usually told him when things were bad and when he wasn't telling him then it was something serious. If he didn't want anyone to know then it was most likely beyond bad.

"I didn't think anything of it until this morning," Naruto said as he sank down into one of the chairs. He was about to cry, "I just thought we were growing apart and that he didn't want me anymore."

"I see," Itachi said. None of them understood what was going on but they were all worried. "I'll talk to him," Itachi told the two men. "Don't worry," he said, though he wasn't sure if there was something to worry about or not.

"Thanks," Naruto said, but it still didn't help make him feel better. He didn't understand what was going on with Sasuke and it hurt to think that he was hiding something.

"Come one, let's go get you some ramen," Kyuubi suggested, "I'll pay." Naruto just nodded and followed his brother out of the house. The one food that always seemed to cheer him up couldn't do the trick and that worried his brother. He understood why it didn't cheer him up, but it still worried him.

**NS**

Itachi found his brother at the office. It was a Saturday but he knew that when something was wrong he either went to Naruto, Suigetsu, him, or work. Since he hadn't told him or Naruto he figured that work was probably where his little brother went. "Want to tell me what's wrong?" he asked, startling Sasuke. "I talked to Naruto and he says that you're being distant," he said as he walked closer and sat in one of the other chairs in his office.

"There's nothing wrong," he lied as he turned to face his brother. "I just," he started and stopped; he didn't know what to say. He didn't usually lie to his brother but he knew that he had to. He could deal with Orochimaru alone. "He just doesn't understand that I want some space," he said. "I've been stress with work," it was a lame excuse but he hoped his brother believed it.

"Why don't I believe you?" he asked. "Naruto said this has been going on for some time," he said, he looked worried. "He thinks you want to break up with him," he said, hoping that bringing Naruto's thoughts of a break up into the mix would make him be honest.

"I don't want to break up with him," Sasuke said quietly as he looked down at his hands. "I love him, it's just everything that has gone on lately has been exhausting," it was partially the truth. "His jealousy and marriage proposal mixed with work has just worn me out, I don't want to talk about it," he said hoping that he would accept that answer.

Itachi was skeptical but he knew that his brother wasn't going to tell him anything. He had a feeling that it wasn't the truth but he let it go. He would try to talk to him again eventually but he gave him some space to figure out what was going on. "Tell Naruto that so he stops worrying about you," Itachi said, "I don't want him coming to me again. If he does then there is something else going on and you are going to tell me what it is." Itachi left and Sasuke felt horrible for lying to his brother. He had been lying to everyone and it was killing him but he had to deal with Orochimaru on his own for once.

**NS**

"Hey," Sasuke said as he walked into the house to find Naruto on the couch. He missed Naruto's touch and didn't want the blond to leave him. "I'm sorry," he said, words that he didn't often say. He moved to sit next to his lover.

"Do you want to break up?" Naruto asked, hoping the answer was no. "Because it's starting to feel like you do," he said all of his insecurities showing in that moment. "I don't understand why you aren't talking to me; why you aren't letting me touch you," he said, not looking at Sasuke.

"No," Sasuke said. "I just need some space," he told him, giving him the same lie that he gave his brother. "Between work, your jealousy, and the proposal I've just been exhausted," he told him. "I love you," words that he rarely said first, "I don't want to break up."

Naruto still didn't look happy, "I thought we were past the jealousy and proposal. You at least said that everything was okay and yet you do nothing but push me away." He was trying to stay strong but all of the emotions were surfacing. It felt like he had been hit with a ton of bricks when Sasuke said he wanted space.

"I know," Sasuke said. He made Naruto look at him, "We are." It was true that those things didn't bother him anymore, it was all about Orochimaru but he didn't want to tell him that. "I promise," he said as he climbed onto Naruto's lap. It hurt but he tried not to flinch when Naruto touched a bruise on his back. He didn't want it to lead to sex but he knew that he wanted Naruto to hold him. He kissed the blond in a way that he hadn't in a long time.

Naruto quickly took control as he moved so that Sasuke were on his back on the couch. It hurt his back when it first hit the couch but he fought the pain. He and Naruto kissed passionate but they both knew that Naruto shouldn't try to push it. The blond knew that until Sasuke made the first move he shouldn't push him into sex. "I love you," Naruto said between kisses. He didn't mind if they didn't have sex, he just wanted to be able to touch Sasuke again. "We're okay, right?" Naruto asked, needing more confirmation.

"Yeah," Sasuke assured him. "Let's go to bed," the dark haired man suggested. Naruto just nodded and got off of him. Sasuke let him hold him again when they were in bed. Sasuke tried not to wince when Naruto pressed again his back because he wanted the comfort of being back in Naruto's arms. Those arms made him feel safe and the pain pills he had taken before he'd came home had started to kick in, letting his pain subside a little.

**NS**

Things had been awkward and it was all Suigetsu's fault. Ever since he'd brought up the kiss in front of Aimi things hadn't been the same. Their relationship had taken a turn for the worse. Even though Aimi still wore her engagement ring she had started doubting the relationship. "Why did you kiss him?" she asked as they lay in bed.

The distance between them was clear and he wasn't sure how to fix it. The fact was that he had kissed Suigetsu and he couldn't change that. He was starting to see that there might be feelings still in his heart for the other man, feelings that he had been fighting; feelings that he was still denying. "I told you, it was a one time thing," he said as he turned toward her.

"Is it really?" she asked. "It doesn't feel like it is," she said, wondering if it was the end of their relationship. She didn't want it to be the end; she'd worked very hard to win him over. The problem was that she was starting to wonder if she'd done the right thing. His mother had certainly encouraged her to pursue him, but it was starting to feel as if she never won him completely.

"Yes, it is," he assured her. It was probably a lie, but she was the one his parents approved of. It was hard to have a relationship with a person that his family didn't like. It wasn't that they thought Suigetsu was a bad person, but rather they didn't approve of him being gay. Aimi was good for him, or at least that was what he was told. "Don't worry," he said, trying to convince the both of them that it was everything was okay between them.

Neither of them moved closer. The distance between them was like the distance starting to form in their relationship. They ignored the fact that it was there and pretended that everything was okay. They both doubted everything but it seemed so much easier to pretend that nothing was wrong.

**NS**

Ino finally agreed to meet with Sai. They both decided it was best to meet in public so that it wouldn't turn into a screaming match. "I'm sorry," he told her. At first it hurt that she was mad but the longer she was angry the less it hurt. He should have been begging for her forgiveness, but he didn't want to. It wasn't as important to him as he first thought it was.

They had been growing apart since before it happened. Ino was starting to feel as if their break up were inevitable even before he cheated on her. "I'm over it," she said. It was true that although she was mad at Sakura she wasn't mad at him. She almost didn't care that he cheated. It was almost a feeling of relief. She had a reason to break up with him. "But I think we both know what's going to happen," she said as she looked at him.

"I know," he agreed. "I think we've been fooling ourselves." He didn't show much emotion because he didn't feel much emotion. It was as if it were an every day conversation rather than a break up.

"We need to break up," she told him. "I think it's been over a long time," she added. "I haven't felt like myself in a long time and I think it's because of this relationship. I haven't done my favorite things in awhile and you haven't been painting. I think this relationship is ruining our lives," she said, listing everything that makes the break up necessary even before he cheated.

He just nodded. "I hope we can still be friends," he said, hoping that their differences would make things bad when they would be at the same party or any kind of get together with their friends.

"I'd like that," she told him. It was always going to be awkward and she knew they wouldn't talk on a daily basis. She started to wonder if being mad at Sakura was right when she wasn't mad at Sai. It wasn't as if their relationship meant more to her than the one she had with Sakura. Sakura had been her best friend and although best friends don't have drunken sex with each other's boyfriend, it was drunken rather than malicious. It wouldn't have happened sober and it made her think about what was going to happen. She didn't know that she was ready to forgive her but it made her think that one day she would.

**TBC…**

**Again I'm sorry for not updating. Hopefully you like this chapter and will leave a review. **

**It's a fairly long chapter so hopefully that'll make it up to you guys….**


	15. Can't Stay Away

**Sorry it's taken so long to update – now that school is done I can hopefully update faster**

**As always I own nothing, enjoy and please review**

**There is a reference to another song in this chapter if you can spot it say it :)**

**Chapter 15: Can't Stay Away**

Haru seemed to know what to say, or more what not to say. He didn't push Sasuke; rather he tried to act as if Sasuke hadn't been acting weird. Naruto was suspicious, he wondered if he were really dumb enough not to notice something was wrong with Sasuke or if he really knew more than he was saying. Naruto knew that Sasuke wouldn't tell Haru something that he didn't tell him, so he was clearly suspicious. Sasuke just liked the fact that Haru didn't push him, but Naruto wasn't fooled by his actions. He sat on the bed trying to decide whether or not to say something. "You're hanging out with him?" Naruto asked, annoyed as he saw Sasuke get dressed. He didn't want to cause another fight but it seemed that there was always something to make them fight. That wasn't a problem until Haru showed up. Sasuke had never said that he needed space until Haru had shown up.

"Yeah," Sasuke shrugged. He sighed when he saw the look on Sasuke's face. "You have nothing to worry about," he told him for what felt like the millionth time since Haru had coming about. He hated seeing a jealous Naruto. It used to be kind of hot, but as it continued throughout their relationship it got annoying.

"I know that, but I still don't trust him," he said. "Don't you think it's just a little odd how he suddenly shows up out of the blue?" Naruto asked, trying not to start a fight but hoping he'd talk some sense into his boyfriend. "Haven't you noticed that everything has gone to hell since he's shown up?" the blond continued.

Naruto didn't know everything that had been going on with Orochimaru, but it did start happening when Haru entered his life. Sasuke pushed the thought out of his mind; Haru was a friend, not an enemy. "It has nothing to do with him and everything to do with you being jealous," Sasuke said, trying to convince both himself and Naruto.

Naruto frowned, realizing that he couldn't talk to Sasuke about Haru. The other man wouldn't listen to him; no matter how suspicious he was of Haru being part of the cause that Sasuke was acting so odd Sasuke wasn't going to listen. "I'm sorry," Naruto frowned, though they both knew that it was starting to break their relationship apart. "I love you," he said, "I don't want anything to happen to you."

Sasuke felt a sting go through his heart at Naruto's words. Something was happening and he wasn't telling him what it was, he couldn't imagine how Naruto would react if he ever found out. He'd probably go to jail for murdering Orochimaru and then be furious with him for not telling him what was going on. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell him; he just didn't want Naruto to do something stupid because he told him.

"I love you too," Sasuke assured him. He walked over to where Naruto was sitting on the bed. If there were something that changed the blonde's train of thought it was kissing. He straddled his boyfriend before kissing him passionately. His arms wrapped around Naruto's neck and ignored the pain that he felt as Naruto touched his back. He instead thought about the pleasure he felt as his tongue danced with Naruto's. He ran one hand down Naruto's chest, but didn't go for taking off his shirt like the blond wished that he would. Instead he softly pushed him away a little, breaking the kiss. The same hand moved up to Naruto's face, pulling him for a series of soft kisses. "You're the only one that gets me like this," he told the other man, "I promise that won't change."

Naruto nodded, believing that Sasuke truly meant those words. "It better stay that way," he told Sasuke with a little smile. If it didn't three graves may have to be dug: one for the man that stole him away, one for Sasuke, and one for Naruto. It may sound possessive, but if he couldn't have him Naruto doubted that he'd stop himself from letting anyone else have him.

"Now I better go or I'm going to be late," Sasuke said as he climbed off of Naruto. He saw the look on Naruto's face and he only smirked and said, "I'll see you tonight." He put on his shoes and was ready to go out the door when Naruto stopped him. "You can't just leave me hanging," the blond argued. "You should know better than to act that way, think of it as a form of punishment," he said as he walked out of the door.

"Fuck," Naruto cursed, needing a cold shower after Sasuke's performance. He should have known that his sadistic bastard of a boyfriend would do that to him. "Damn it," he said as he started to undress. He needed someone to talk to and he decided that it couldn't be Sasuke, so there was only one person he could talk to. Kiba wouldn't want to hear about his life with Sasuke, but he didn't care.

**NS**

As Kiba and Sasuke sat at a small café for lunch Sasuke made sure to emphasize that it was not a date. "Naruto doesn't trust you," he told him. "So I'm going to let you know this isn't anything close to a date," he said, completely serious. He didn't like the look that Haru gave him, but he ignored it. He liked having someone to talk to that didn't ask him if he were okay. He wasn't and he didn't want to be reminded of that every day.

"I know," he smiled. _'Not yet,' _he thought, in his mind Sasuke was pulling away from Naruto and into his arms. He was sure that it was going to be soon, he just needed to show him that he was right. It wouldn't be that minute, but it was going to be soon. He has nothing to worry about," Haru said with a fake smile as he lied.

"That's what I told him," Sasuke said. He wasn't sure he believed the other man, but he continued to ignore his instincts that he should run and stay away from him. He ignored Naruto's words and the coincidence that he and Orochimaru appeared at the same time. He had never believed in coincidences before, but he didn't think that Haru would turn into an enemy. He didn't want to believe that Haru had anything to do with Orochimaru.

**NS**

"I just don't understand why he trusts Haru so much," Naruto told Kiba. It was just like college where Naruto only talked about Sasuke. Kiba thought that it was over when Naruto finally got what he wanted, but he was wrong. While it had greatly lessened, Naruto couldn't help but talk about Sasuke when something was off with the other man. "He's been acting weird ever since Haru came into his life. Do you think he's cheating on me?" he asked. "Today he was all seductive and then he left me hanging so that he wasn't late to meet Haru," he told him.

"Please leave it there, I don't need more description," he cut the blond off. "I really doubt that Sasuke would cheat on you. The guy is a jackass, but I don't think he's that bad. We both know that he doesn't tell just guy that he loves him," he said. Kiba hated sticking up for the man, but Naruto loved Sasuke and he didn't want his friend hurt. He knew that Sasuke loved Naruto and it didn't matter what was going on with him he wasn't going to lie about loving someone. The man may have lied before, but it was something bigger than the end of a relationship, it was about him being hurt and scared. They knew that Sasuke wasn't afraid of hurting someone's feelings; if the love were gone he would have said so.

"I know," Naruto said. "But I know he's hiding something," he said, "I just have a feeling that there is something seriously wrong." He frowned, not understanding why Sasuke was keeping secrets. "If he were cheating I could fix it," he told Kiba, "I could beat the living daylights out of the guy he was cheating with and do I don't know what to Sasuke. I might be able to fix whatever made him cheat. But I know it's something big and I don't know if it's something I can fix." There was a period of silence, neither of them knowing what to say. "I want to help him but he won't let me," he frowned.

Kiba didn't know what to tell him. He could see that Naruto was having a mini breakdown because of Sasuke. They both knew that it had to be big and neither knew why. He couldn't give advice on something he didn't know about. "I'm sure he'll either work it out himself or tell you eventually," Kiba said, trying to assure his best friend that everything would work out. He just didn't know what measures would happen before everything was exposed. "Look on the bright side, at least he loves you back. Suigetsu won't even talk to me without hating me. I don't even know what to do with my love life," Kiba admitted.

"You could start off with dumping Aimi," Naruto suggested. He knew that Kiba was only going to marry her for appearances. He loved Suigetsu; Aimi was only to make his family happy. "But I'm not sure that he'll ever forgive you," he added, "He definitely won't if you're with her though."

"I love her," Kiba said, trying to convince him that it was true. "He's just something else," he said, "on some other level." It had been four years and he knew that was difficult to forgive. Aimi was safe. His family loved her and it was generally accepted. She was a nice girl and he could be happy. It would never be as passionate as it would with Suigetsu, but it could work.

"Not as a lover," Naruto argued. "You love her as a friend, but not as what you want to. You want to love her, but we both know that you don't." Neither of them was getting the advice they wanted. They didn't want to hear what the other was saying. Naruto wanted advice on how to fix his relationship and Kiba wanted to hear that he was making the right choice with Aimi.

"I've gotta meet Aimi, but we can pick this conversation up later," Kiba said. He wanted to clear his mind. If he saw Aimi he hoped that she would be able to make it right. He hoped that seeing her would make him know that she was the one. Naruto just nodded as he silently got up and left Kiba's house. Neither of them had felt better, it made for a very tense atmosphere.

**NS**

Sakura knocked on Lee's door. She wasn't sure what to expect from the conversation, she was only happy that he agreed to talk to her. She hoped that he wasn't going to break up with her, but it was what she expected when he opened the door. He didn't look happy but opened the door wider to let her in. Lee stayed silent as he looked at her for some sort of explanation. "I'm so sorry," she said, feeling desperate for forgiveness.

"I know," Lee said. He wasn't his normal self and she knew that it was all her fault. "Sometimes that isn't good enough," he told her. He wasn't happy and saying something positive that used to annoy her. Over the years she had come to love his positive, upbeat attitude.

"We can work it out," she told him. She just wanted him to agree and take her back. They had never truly broken up and she still wore the ring that he had given her. She wanted it to still mean something – that it meant that he still wanted to marry her. "I don't remember much of that night but I know that you were the only one I love and that I thought of you the entire time," she said. "You're the only one that I want."

"I would you know that you thought of me if you don't remember anything?" he asked. Logic wasn't his strong point but in that moment he needed it to be. He always thought that he could get her no matter what; he didn't think she'd cheat on him once he finally had her.

"Because I know that you're the only one that I would possibly think about," she told him. "If you don't want me anymore I understand," she said. "If you don't want to marry me I understand because I did something I never should have done. I did something that I'll never do again if you take me back," she promised. "Just one more chance," she pleaded.

"One more chance," he said. Perhaps it was his blind optimism but he believed her. He believed that she loved him and that she wouldn't do it again. He didn't want to leave her because he loved her. Lee wanted to believe that she wouldn't lie to him again no matter what.

She smiled before pulling him into a hug by wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you," she said as he reluctantly returned her hug. "I won't let you down," she said before kissing him.

**NS**

It felt never ending, him running into Suigetsu. It was as if no matter what he was always there. It made sense since they loved all of the same places. He could feel Aimi becoming uncomfortable as she saw Suigetsu. No words were exchanged, only a look. It was a look that Kiba had never gave to her and it hurt.

They only held the look a moment before Suigetsu looked away. Aimi noticed that Kiba wasn't the one to look away; he stared a little longer. He looked at her and she just frowned before turning away.

No words were said about the interaction. It was so simple yet it meant so much. It was a look that he only gave to Suigetsu and it wasn't one of anger. The look couldn't be further from angry and it hurt her to see it. She knew that he had always given Suigetsu that look, but she had always been in denial. She made herself look away from the interactions between the two men because she had never thought it was serious. It took a proposal for her to start looking. She had to wonder if she had broken up true love; she wondered if she'd ever have Kiba's heart the way that Suigetsu did.

**TBC…**

**I really don't know where the first part of this chapter came from – I planned on making them fight – not sure how it turned into that…**

**So I'm going to make a poll – should Suigetsu take Kiba back or not? I'm debating on the subject – if you don't have an account feel free to vote through review – I still have multiple chapters to decide so you can think about it if you want – the poll is on my profile page **


	16. Love is Hell

**I had a troll post on this story about how nobody likes narusasu which I found funny because I think the fact that this story has reviews shows how wrong they are – I don't find these reviews offense, I find them funny that people think I care what they think when they are insulting my choice of pairing **

**As always I own nothing, enjoy and please review**

**Thanks to everyone that voted on the poll – if you have any questions on anything in this story or just things you want to see more of just PM me**

**I'm planning to write a one-shot and going to make it happy because I feel like this story has a lot of bad drama for Naruto and Sasuke so if you want to read it I'm hoping to post it in the next few days **

**Chapter 16: Love is Hell**

Aimi watched Kiba as they sat on the couch. He was more concentrated on the television than he was on her. She didn't care that he was absorbed in watching TV; it was the fact that he was self-absorbed that bothered. It was then that she realized how self-absorbed she had been. It had been four years of denial for both of them; the only difference was that she was finally admitting it. The ring on her finger made her think about their relationship and she realized it was just for appearances on his part. While she loved him he would never love her the way that she wanted.

She was curled up on the couch, twisting the ring on her finger. She bit her lip, trying to decide what to do. As she twisted the ring it started to burn; not literally but it was burning a spot in her conscious. "You don't love me," she finally said, her voice clearly showing how much it hurt her to say those words. "You never did and never will," she added as she pulled the ring off of her finger. She looked at it, trying not to look him in the eyes as she stared at her.

"Of course I love you, that's why I proposed," he told her. He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more, himself or her. The look on her face told him that she didn't believe him. "I left him for you, I think that alone shows how much I love you," he said. It all came back to Suigetsu, if it weren't for him then they might have a chance, but everyone knew that the only person Kiba loved with Suigetsu.

"No, you were convinced by me and your family that it was me that you loved," she told him. Aimi took his hand and placed the palm of his hand, "I was wrong, I told you that you didn't love Suigetsu but I was being selfish. I wanted you, but when I look at the two of you together I realize that I was wrong." She let go of his hand and got off the couch, "I'm going to stay with my parents. Trust me, this would have never worked out the way we wanted. "

He was too stunned to say anything. Kiba never expected Aimi to be the one to end the relationship; she was the one that convinced him that he didn't love Suigetsu. She was the reason that he'd broken up with the other man and yet there she was telling him that they weren't meant to be. He couldn't say anything; she had left him speechless as she started packing her things. Kiba tried to find the words to say, but nothing came out. She had been the one to ruin the relationship that he had with Suigetsu and suddenly she had a change of heart. It made no sense to him.

As he saw her leave he started to realize that maybe it wasn't all her fault. He could blame her and his family, but he was partly to blame. He allowed himself to manipulated into believing that she was perfect for him. Kiba ran a hand through his hand as he collapsed back into the couch with a loud sigh. Four years had passed, he had been an idiot for four years and he doubted that Suigetsu would ever give him another chance.

"I'm such and idiot," he said to himself. He knew that he had to try to get him back, but he wasn't sure what he could say that would make everything better. He wasn't sure that there was anything that he could say. They say that time heals all wounds, but in that case he was pretty sure it only made them deeper.

**NS**

Suigetsu and Ryuu were sitting on his couch. There was nothing sexual between them, though the attraction was clearly there. Ryuu knew that there was something, or more someone, holding Suigetsu back from opening up to him. Suigetsu wanted to like him, he wanted to be able to give his heart to Ryuu, but in the back of his mind he couldn't allow himself. They hadn't talked about what their relationship was, but they both knew it was only a very close friendship.

They sat in comfortable silence but that silence was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Expecting company?" Ryuu asked. He figured it was probably Sasuke; the man seemed to appear whenever he wanted advice or just a place to get away from everyone else. Ryuu partially blamed the man for hindering any relationship conversations.

"Nope," Suigetsu said as he got up and walked to the door. Upon opening it his face fell into a frown. It had been a good morning of relaxing and not thinking about his ex. He was trying not to let Kiba be part of his life but it seemed that the other man wouldn't let him. "What do you want?" he asked, annoyed that the man was always there to ruin his day.

"To talk to you," he said nervously. He wasn't sure what to say, but he knew that it would probably come out all wrong. "Aimi and I broke up this morning," he told Suigetsu. He wasn't sure what kind of response to expect. He didn't expect for the man to jump back into his arms and Suigetsu didn't.

Instead the man looked at him with a mix of annoyance and anger. "So what?" he asked. "Do you expect me to care? Because I don't, you can't just run back to me because you got dumped," he told him. He wasn't going to take him back just because they had broken up. "I'm not anyone's second choice," he said; ready to close the door on Kiba's face.

"I know you're not," Kiba said quickly. "You were always my first choice, I was just stupid and let other people convince me otherwise," he told Suigetsu, but the man didn't seem to care. Kiba knew that it wasn't going to be easy, but he hoped that Suigetsu would listen to him. "I know that four years is a long time, but it took me that long to come to my sense, he said. "I've always been kind of slow," Kiba tried to joke.

Suigetsu didn't find his joke funny, but rather annoying. It made him mad that Kiba thought that it was funny. The man had played with his emotions and he thought it was funny. He seemed to think that Suigetsu would just accept him as if everything was okay. "You're so hung up on yourself, try thinking about someone else for once," Suigetsu said. "You can't just come back into my life because your relationship didn't work. I'm not some back up plan. Leave me alone; go mess with someone else's feelings," Suigetsu closed the door and leaned up against it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ryuu asked. Suigetsu was startled, forgetting that Ryuu had been there. He just shook his head as he tried to forget about it. "I think I should probably leave," he said, "you don't seem in the mood for company anymore."

"No please stay," Suigetsu said. He wasn't going to let Kiba ruin a good day. "I just wasn't expecting it to be him," he admitted. Ryuu didn't say anything but sat on the couch with a small smile. It wasn't because he was happy, but rather trying to reassure Suigetsu without words. Suigetsu sat on the couch, much more tense than he was before. They didn't say anything, though there was much that needed to be said. Just when Suigetsu thought things were changing for the better Kiba came back into his life like a tidal wave.

**NS**

Hinata sat across from Ken, the man that Sakura and Ino hooked her up with. She hadn't gotten a word in since they said hello. He had ordered her food and talked about himself for the entire night. Even when he asked her a question he never gave her enough time for a response, rather answered it for her. Most of the time he wasn't right as to what she thought. As he talked she realized they had nothing in common.

She played with her food as he tried to impress her with all of his achievements and how much money he made. It was things that would impress most girls, she was sure that many girls fawned over him, but she was not one of them. Hinata had never been superficial, but he seemed to think the opposite. She wasn't quite sure how to get out of the rest of the date. She had never been assertive enough to just walk out on a date, no matter how bad.

She pushed her plate to the end of the table, signaling to the waiter that she was finished with her meal. He didn't seem to notice rather he just kept talking. She found him to be increasingly annoying. She looked at her watch and said, "It's getting late, and I have a meeting in the morning."

He finally stopped talking and looked at his watch, "It's only eight thirty." He looked at her and said, "The night is still young." She just frowned at him and he sighed. "Check please," he called to the waiter as she let out a sigh of relief. They both knew that she was lying and that seemed to anger him. He wasn't used to being turned down but she clearly was trying to get out of their date.

The night had been a disaster and she just wanted to get away as fast as possible. He wasn't pleased with the way she felt and he knew there was no chance for a second date. She could tell that he didn't understand what went wrong but she wasn't rude enough to tell him exactly what she thought of the date. The night ended and he was finally silent, just was she wanted.

**NS**

As Sasuke sat across from Haru he couldn't help but think about what Naruto had said. The suspicion had been haunting him every time he saw Haru since Naruto had talked to him about him. He had started to notice that Haru was acting too friendly and that he may seem to be sitting too close. "Naruto still doesn't like you," Sasuke said, "but he has nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure about that?" Haru asked as he moved closer. Sasuke was surprised by the question, though he knew that he probably shouldn't be. "I mean you guys keep fighting and I think we've got chemistry," he said once again moving closer to him.

"No, Naruto and I are doing fine," he said moving further away. He didn't like the look on Haru's face. It was a look of mischief as if he were planning something that he shouldn't be. "I should probably go," Sasuke said, feeling very uncomfortable.

Before he could get up and walk away Haru pulled him back and into a kiss. Sasuke quickly pushed him away, angry but not as angry as the person behind him, "So this is why you needed space?" Sasuke looked and saw Naruto. Before he could try to explain Naruto said, "Then have your space, I'll just stay at Kiba's place."

"Naruto wait," Sasuke called after him. He was about to run after him when Haru gripped his arm tightly. It reminded him of the way that Orochimaru used to grab him, the type that bruised. "Let me go," Sasuke demanded.

"Tell Orochimaru I said hi," Haru smirked. Sasuke stood motionless, too shocked to move or say anything. "While I'm not too happy, he'll be happy to hear you rejected me," the man said. There was an evil look in his eyes as he said, "Now he has no reason to hold back." Sasuke felt paralyzed as Haru let his arm go and walked away.

**TBC…**

**So let me know what you think :) **

**I wanted to have this up sooner for all of you awesome readers but I got sick – still it's much faster than I have been updating **


	17. Whole Again

**I honestly think I have the best readers :) Thanks to everyone that stuck with reading this story despite how long I've taken to update during school…I tried to respond to everyone that reviewed last chapter since I don't think I have the last few chapters…I find it really fun to read the long reviews it's great to see people get excited about the chapters – it makes me want to update faster **

**I've posted some one-shots if you want to read them I think there are 3 – only one is kind of sad so if you want happy don't read I Know You're Gonna Be There **

**Chapter 17: Whole Again**

"I just can't believe it," Naruto said as he paced Kiba's living room. The other man let him vent, knowing that if he didn't it were possible that Naruto would go back and kill Haru. "Do you know how much self-restraint it took not to kill them?" he asked. "Especially Haru, he seemed so pleased with himself to see me standing there," he told Kiba. "Are you even listening?" he asked as he stopped and looked at Kiba, whom seemed to be zoning him out as he sat on the couch.

"Yeah, unfortunately I am," he told the blond. "Did you even talk to Sasuke?" he asked, though he knew the answer. While he didn't like the man, Sasuke made Naruto happy. "Don't get me wrong I'd rather you find someone less like Sasuke," he said, not sure how to wrap Sasuke up in one word. "But I know that's not going to happen so just talk to the asshole," he said with a sigh. "Trust me, talk to him while he's still willing to listen," he frowned as she sank into the couch.

"Something tells me that this isn't about Sasuke anymore," Naruto said as he sat next to his best friend. He just looked at him, expecting for Kiba to continue.

"Aimi broke up with me," he told him. He didn't look at Naruto as he said, "And Suigetsu doesn't want to talk to me at all."

"Our love lives are really screwed up," the blond said as he too sank into the couch. It was then that his phone went off with a text message, _'Can we talk?'_ He saw Sasuke's name light up the screen and said, "But I'm going to fix my problems, hopefully." He sat up straight and said, "You need to find out how to do the same."

"Thanks for the advice," Kiba replied sarcastically. He knew that he'd dug himself into the hole he was in, but that didn't mean that he didn't want help to get out of it. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair, "I really messed up."

"Just take baby steps," Naruto suggested. He'd never been good at giving advice, though he always tried. "Four years is a long time," he told Kiba, "Did you really think he'd just go back to you?" The look on Kiba's face said it all; that he knew that it wouldn't be that easy. "I really do have to go," he said as he stood up, "I need to find out if I need to kill someone."

**NS**

"You wanted to see me?" Ryuu asked as Suigetsu let him in. The look on Suigetsu's face made him worry. The man didn't look happy in any sense of the word. "What's wrong?" he asked and the other man looked uncomfortable. It was as if he couldn't find the words to say what he needed to say.

"I've decided to move," Suigetsu said, "and I don't mean just somewhere else in the city, I'm going to try to transfer to out of state for work." Ryuu wasn't sure what else to say, he wasn't going to try to stop him if it were what Suigetsu really wanted. "I just can't stand the drama anymore, I need a fresh start," he told him.

"If that's what you want I'm not going to try to stop you," Ryuu said disappointedly. He understood what was wrong even without Suigetsu saying it. The problem was Kiba and the fact that it was impossible for him to move on when he was everywhere.

"I hope we can still keep in touch," Suigetsu said. He hated moving when he had people that cared about him there but he knew that he had to for his own sanity. Ryuu nodded but didn't say anything. They tried to act normal the rest of the night as if nothing was changing but they both knew that any chance of a relationship probably just ended.

**NS**

Hinata and Sakura were in a bookstore. Hinata was looking for a new book to read, not liking the idea of reading on a computer or tablet, while Sakura joined her to grill her about her date. She told her how horrible it had turned out, "He talked the entire time. I didn't even get a word in."

"He couldn't have been that bad," Sakura argued. She did believe that a date with such a hot guy could be as bad as Hinata described. At the very least she had eye candy, which always made a date better in Sakura's opinion.

"We just aren't a good match," she said. Before she could continue she ran into something, or more someone, that made her drop her books. "Sorry," she quickly said without even looking at the person. When she looked up she saw an attractive man standing in front of her.

"It's fine," he said, "really its' my fault." He bent down to grab her books for her, as she stared at him. He had light brown hair and green eyes that captured her attention. "To be honest I just wanted an excuse to talk to you," he smiled as he handed her books to her. "I saw you and knew I wanted to talk to you, I didn't mean to make you drop everything," he admitted with a nervous smile.

"It's okay," she stuttered out. Hinata didn't know what to say so her nervous stutter had started again. For the most part she had it under control but she had never had a guy say that to her, especially one that was so attractive. "I'm Hinata," she blurted out awkwardly.

"I'm Kouki," he introduced himself, saying it much smoother. "Let me take you out to make it up to you," he offered, but they both knew it was only because he wanted to take her out, it had nothing to do with the fact that she dropped her books.

"She'd love to," Sakura chimed in, getting an angry look from Hinata. He just laughed and she said, "She's just shy, she'd be happy to go out with you."

"What'd you say?" he asked Hinata, ignoring Sakura. "Just one night, if you aren't having fun tell me and I'll leave you alone," he said, trying to convince her.

Hinata looked at Sakura, who was nodding her head enthusiastically. "Sure," she said as she bit her lip. She loved his smile; it lit up the room. "When were you thinking?" she asked timidly.

"Are you free tomorrow night?" he asked. She nodded, not believing that she had agreed to go on a date with a complete stranger. Sakura and Ino had volunteered her on the last date, but there was something special about Kouki. She just felt that there was something different from other guys. "Seven o'clock?" he asked and she nodded again. "You don't talk much do you?" he asked and she shook her head, "Hopefully that'll change."

"She's just shy, she'll open up," Sakura budged her way into the conversation. Hinata shot her a look that motioned her to leave. "I'm going to go look over there," Sakura pointed to a random section, "Come get me when you're done." She let out an excited squeal before leaving.

"Don't mind her," Hinata said. They exchanged phone numbers and Hinata suggested a place to meet. She didn't like strangers knowing where she lived so she liked to meet them away from her house. "See you tomorrow," she nervously said before walking away.

"Can't wait," he said with a smile as he watched her walk away.

**NS**

Sasuke lay on his stomach, his back hurting too much to lay on from the last encounter with Orochimaru. It scared him as he thought what Haru said. His life seemed to be falling apart. Naruto thought he cheated on him and Orochimaru wouldn't be holding back. Nothing seemed to be going right and he wasn't sure what to think about everything. He didn't know what to do and he felt like he was back in time when Orochimaru ruled his life. It was then that his phone rang and he saw the screen light up with Suigetsu's name. "Hey," he answered, his sadness showing in his voice.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked. It wasn't the reason that he was calling but he could hear that something was wrong. They had been best friends for so long that he would have thought that if something was wrong that he'd tell him.

"Naruto was right about Haru," he admitted. He wasn't going to go into detail about it all since he was still trying to figure it all out. "He kissed me and Naruto saw now Naruto is mad and not home, it's just complicated," he said. "But I know that's not why you were calling so what's up?" Sasuke asked with a sigh. He didn't want to talk about the situation, it only made him feel worse. Part of him was wondering if he needed to start going to therapy again.

"I didn't want to tell you this over the phone," Suigetsu started, which worried Sasuke. "But I'm moving," he said, not really wanting Sasuke's reaction. He knew it wasn't going to be a good one. There was only silence on the phone, which worried him even more. "You there?" he asked. "Will you at least say something?"

"Seriously?" Sasuke was too shocked to think. "What else can go wrong this year?" Sasuke said, clearly frustrated and distraught. It was just another thing to add to his list of things to hate the year. With the way things were going he was sure that Naruto would dump him and just ruin his year – his life. He never believed in living for someone but Naruto was his rock, he was the only person that he wasn't related to that he loved.

"I'm sorry, I just I need to get away," Suigetsu said. "I really do want to talk about this in person because I'm trying to figure everything else," he added, wishing that things could be different. "I have Ryuu over right now but I was hoping you could come over tomorrow and talk about it," he said with a sigh. He was pacing as he talked to Sasuke, hating the way he was feeling. It felt as if he were betraying his best friend by leaving, "I just need to get away from all of this drama."

"Yeah I'll see you tomorrow," Sasuke felt like a zombie. Nothing in his life was going right and all he could do was wonder what bombshell would come next. He heard the door open and said, "I should go. Let's just hope I still have a boyfriend by the end of the night." They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. He looked at the bedroom door as Naruto walked in, "Hey."

"Hey," Naruto said calmly. There was a moment of silence where they just looked at each other. "So, any chance you know where Haru lives so that I can kill him?" Naruto asked as he moved across the room toward Sasuke. He sat next to him but he never took his eyes off of him. "You know he's lucky that I didn't kill him right in that moment," he added.

"I thought that you were mad at me," Sasuke said quietly. "I didn't think you were coming home," he sat up as he looked at Naruto. "Aren't you giving me space?" he asked. It wasn't angry like he wanted space; rather it was sad that Naruto said it at all. It was the fact that he didn't stop and let him explain. He had almost expected him to fight for him but he didn't, he just stormed away.

"I was," he told Sasuke. "But then I was talking to Kiba about Suigetsu and I realized that I don't want to end up like that," he said. He looked at Sasuke and pushed a piece of hair out of his face, "I don't want to break up and then four years down the road end up realizing that I was an idiot and then not being able to do anything about it."

"I love you," Sasuke said and it was clear that he meant it. It wasn't often that Sasuke was the first to say those words and he never would say those words if he didn't mean it. "He's nothing to me," Sasuke told him, "I thought he was a friend but you were right." He felt Naruto's hand move down his face as he said, "You should know by now that it's you that I want."

Naruto loved seeing the softer side of Sasuke. It didn't come out often and no one else could bring it out of him. He didn't act that way towards anyone else, he did look at anyone else like he did towards Naruto. "I know," he said as he moved closer to Sasuke. "With everything that's going on I feel as if I'm losing you," he didn't mean to be insecure but Sasuke meant everything to him.

"You're not going to lose me," Sasuke assured him, "unless you want to." Naruto kissed him, showing that he didn't want him to go anywhere. Sasuke ignored any part of his body that hurt when Naruto pushed him onto his back. He wanted Naruto with no drama. He wanted to tell the blond about Orochimaru but he felt that one thing at a time. He would tell him, but not in that moment. In that moment all he wanted was Naruto.

**TBC…**

**I was going through my older stories and I realized that my writing style has changed quite a bit so for those of you that have read a lot of my stories which style do you like best? **


	18. Made of Scars

**Don't hate me after reading this chapter…**

**As always I own nothing, enjoy and please review **

**Chapter 18: Made of Scars**

Everything was going good that morning as Sasuke let Naruto pull him close. It felt almost as if they were getting back to normal. Sasuke kissed him passionately and Naruto felt as if they might actually have sex, something they hadn't done in a while. "I love you," Naruto said between kisses as his hands ran down Sasuke's body.

"I love you too," Sasuke told him, "but I really don't want to talk right now." He pushed Naruto onto his back before kissing him again. Without thinking about the pain on his back he pulled Naruto's shirt off. He tried to ignore the pain but he was sure that Naruto could probably tell that something was wrong.

"I like you on your back better," Naruto replied as he turned them around. He noticed how Sasuke winced but that went out of his mind when he felt Sasuke pulling him closer to him.

Naruto trailed kisses down Sasuke's neck until he got to the collar of his shirt. He smiled before taking off his shirt and continuing kissing down his chest. Once again when he fell back onto the bed he saw Sasuke wince. "Okay, what's wrong?" he asked, knowing there was more than Sasuke was telling. The dark haired man didn't reply and didn't move. Naruto decided to take matters into his own hands and pulled Sasuke up so he was in a sitting position. He looked at his back and angrily asked, "Where the hell did these come from?" Sasuke's back was scattered with bruises, some were fading and others looked fresh. "What's going on?" he looked at Sasuke for an answer.

"I forgot that I really need to talk to Suigetsu," Sasuke quickly changed the subject. He pushed Naruto away and got off the bed before collecting his shirt and putting it on. "I really need to go talk to him, for some reason he's decided that he's moving," he explained as Naruto looked at him in disbelief. It wasn't because Suigetsu was moving, it was the fact that Sasuke had completely changed the subject and was running away.

"Sasuke you can't just changed the subject like that," Naruto said as he quickly followed Sasuke down the stairs. "We need to talk about this," he said as he grabbed the other man's arm. He was quickly shoved away, getting the same reaction he would have when he'd first met the other man. "Where did those come from?" Naruto asked again, calmer than before, cautious with his movements. He didn't wan to scare the other man, but it seemed that he wasn't going to get any answers. Sasuke had put up his walls and was guarding himself like he did years before. It made Naruto wonder if something had happened – something that reminded him of Orochimaru. He didn't want to think that the older man had somehow come back into Sasuke's life, but all of the signs were there.

"Nothing is wrong," Sasuke said, backing away as if Naruto were some sort of monster. "I've just been clumsy lately," was his lame excuse as he grabbed his keys, not once taking his eyes off of the blond. Orochimaru had brought out a side of him that hadn't been there in a long time. "I'll be back in a little bit," he said, brushing off the conversation as he ran out the door, not even bothering to take his car. He thought a walk would be good for him; he just needed to clear his mind.

Naruto watched the door shut. He hated to see Sasuke in such a state. It hurt him when Sasuke seemed afraid of him as if he were going to hurt him like Orochimaru did in the past. His worst nightmare seemed to have been coming true. Years of building trust and a feeling of security had been falling apart in front of his eyes. When he thought back to the things that had happened he knew that Sasuke had never been cheating on him, it was something much worse. It was then that he knew that he had to worry about Sasuke's safety.

**NS**

Suigetsu heard a knock on the door and he knew it could only be Sasuke. Anyone else would call before coming over, but not Sasuke. He knew that Naruto probably wouldn't either but it was highly unlikely that the blond would show up on his doorstep without something being seriously wrong. He sighed as he walked to the door, knowing it was going to be a long conversation.

Suigetsu opened the door to see a frightened Sasuke standing in front of him. He didn't understand what would cause the look on the other man's face and didn't get a chance to ask as he was pushed aside so Sasuke could enter his home. "Please come in," Suigetsu said sarcastically. He tried to act as normal as possible so that the other man would hopefully calm down and tell him what was wrong.

He knew he wasn't going to get any answers since Sasuke quickly asked, "Why the hell are you moving?" He had tried to be a good friend and understand Suigetsu's decision but he needed Suigetsu more than ever. The other man didn't know it but his worst fear had appeared again and he wasn't going away anytime soon. "You can't move," he told him. He knew that he was being selfish but he didn't care.

"There are many reasons why I'm moving," Suigetsu told him as he walked into his living room. Sasuke followed ready to protest, but the other man didn't let him. "The biggest reason is Kiba, as you probably know. He just keeps showing up and now that his engagement with Aimi is done I know that he's going to be persistent," Suigetsu tried to explain.

"That's what you have Ryuu and me for," Sasuke argued as he sat across from his friend. "Ryuu will help you move on you just have to let him," the dark haired man said, trying to come up with reasons without adding Orochimaru's name. "You can't let some idiot control your life, he isn't worth it," Sasuke said.

"That doesn't mean that I don't still love him," Suigetsu told him as he sat back feeling defeated at the fact that he could still love a man that treated him so poorly. "As dumb as it may sound some part of me still loves him even after all the shit he's put me through and that's not going to go away if I see him all of the time. I hate myself for loving him, but for some stupid reason I do," he explained.

"Why the hell would you love that man?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. He knew that there were still some feelings there but he never expected it to be love. "He dated you for four years and then left saying it was some kind of fluke, that he wasn't gay and Aimi helped him see that," he argued. "He didn't choose you, he choice his family and some bitch whose mission it was to break you guys up," he said angrily.

"What would you do if Itachi hated Naruto?" Suigetsu asked and Sasuke remained silent. "Would you just say fuck Itachi and stay with him or would it give you some serious doubts?" Suigetsu asked, knowing that Kiba's family had a lot to do with the break up.

"Itachi never tried to tell me that I'm not gay," Sasuke told him. "Yes I'd have some doubt if Itachi didn't like him but I'd never let him convince me that I'm not gay," he told his best friend.

"You also didn't date girls before Naruto," Suigetsu said, not sure why he was defending the man that broke his heart. "Your father isn't telling you that it's wrong to date men and that some girl would be perfect," he added, knowing that it wasn't a good idea to bring Sasuke's family up. "You can't choose who you love," Suigetsu said sadly.

"Kiba didn't choose you," Sasuke reminded him. "It was Aimi that dumped him, or did you forget that?" he asked as Suigetsu frowned. "You were only his choice when Aimi decided to see that he loves you," Sasuke said. He knew that he was being rude by bringing up all of his opinions but he didn't want his best friend to get hurt again by Kiba.

"You think that I don't know that?" Suigetsu asked, hating to be fighting with Sasuke but for some reason unable to not fight for Kiba. "Why do you think I need to get away? I need to not see him every day because I don't want to fall back into his arms. I just need a fresh start and I can't do that here," he said.

"I need you here," Sasuke admitted. He hated feeling vulnerable but knowing that he truly was. "I need my best friend," he said, not wanting to say too much.

"You have Naruto," Suigetsu reminded him. "I'll always be there for you on the phone, but you have Naruto. You don't come to me for your problems anymore unless it's about him, you know that," he said. He was trying to remain calm, not wanting a fight to ruin their friendship. Sasuke just nodded, not trusting himself to say anything. "Is there something you aren't telling me?" he asked, knowing that if something were truly wrong he wouldn't be able to abandon Sasuke.

"No, nothing," Sasuke said. He wasn't convincing but Suigetsu knew that Sasuke wasn't going to tell him anything. The dark haired man saw that Suigetsu had already started to pack, "Do you want me to help you pack?" They both knew that he hadn't accepted the fact that Suigetsu was moving but he was going to try to be a good friend.

"That'd be great," Suigetsu said with a small smile. They started to pack, laughing over old memories as they came across things from years before.

It was night before they knew it and Sasuke knew that he should probably head back to his house. He was dreading the confrontation that he knew awaited him, but it had to happen sooner or late. He knew that he should tell Naruto about everything, but was going to be hard for him to do. "I should probably get home, Naruto has already called three times," he said, though he had sent him to voicemail every time. "He's probably mad that I didn't answer," he added with a sigh. Suigetsu wanted to ask him what was going on, but Naruto and Sasuke had been fighting so much that it could be anything. Instead he said goodbye and sent him on his way, hoping that Naruto would get to the bottom of whatever he was hiding.

**NS**

As Sasuke walked home he regretted not taking his car. It was dark and he'd always hated the dark even after he'd gotten over his paralyzing fear. He was on high alert as he walked, he hadn't expected to stay so late so he wasn't prepared to handle the dark again as he walked the streets.

"Good to see you," he heard from behind. He stiffened as he turned to see Orochimaru. It was a dark street that got little traffic. There was no one else around and streetlights were scarce. "I always love our meetings," he said, the tone sent chills down his back as he tried to move further away from him. "Where do you think you're going?" Orochimaru asked as he grabbed his arm and slammed him against a nearby brick wall.

"Leave me alone," Sasuke demanded. He tried to sound strong but he knew that he wasn't. He was younger and probably stronger but there was something about Orochimaru that he knew would always bring out the child in him. He'd always be powerless even if he wanted to think that he wasn't.

"But I'm not done with you," he said as he delivered a swift punch to the stomach. Sasuke groaned and Orochimaru said, "Isn't this fun, just like old times." There was another hit and Sasuke felt the brick against his back adding another bruise to match the one on his stomach. "Maybe if you beg me I'll stop," he said sadistically.

"I'd never stoop so low as to beg you," Sasuke coughed out. Orochimaru just smirked and he felt another punch, sending him to the ground. Orochimaru added kicking to the mix as Sasuke felt his foot connect to his side. He felt tears threaten to fall but he tried to hold them back.

Orochimaru lifted him up so that the wall propped him up. "You'll always be my favorite," he whispered, again starting the mind games. He sent another punch that made Sasuke's head fly back against the wall. Orochimaru seemed surprised as he saw blood flow from the back of his head.

Sasuke fought to stay awake but as he was dropped to the ground his head took another blow. He felt the pain disappear as he slowly closed his eyes. The blood flowed from him and he knew that he would probably die if he closed his eyes. He knew to fight to keep them open but he couldn't help it as he fell unconscious.

**TBC…**

**I know most of you probably hate me right now for ending it there or for it happening all together…but let me know what you think…**


	19. Chalk Outline

**As always I own nothing enjoy and please review **

**The title was inspired by the Three Days Grace but the song if I Didn't Have You by Thompson Square really fits it better – seriously if you like/tolerate country music you should listen to it**

**Chapter 19: Chalk Outline **

Naruto paced the room as his mind went through every thing that could have possibly happed to Sasuke. "Please let him be there," Naruto chanted as he waited for Suigetsu to answer. Sasuke wasn't answering his phone and he hadn't come home the night before so he was hoping that he was just staying with Suigetsu. It wouldn't be the first time he stayed with Suigetsu, but usually he lets Naruto know that even if they are fighting. He couldn't come up with any reason why that time would be different.

"What's up?" Suigetsu answered. Naruto didn't hear Sasuke in the background telling him that he didn't want to talk to Naruto, which just worried him even more. Suigetsu didn't understand why the other man was calling him. Naruto only called him when Sasuke wouldn't answer his phone when he was there or when he was plotting something for Sasuke.

"Is Sasuke there with you?" Naruto asked. He was clearly distraught by the fact that he couldn't find his boyfriend. He continued to pace and was ready to pull his hair out. Sasuke was everything to him and he couldn't imagine life without him.

"He left last night," Suigetsu said. He too was worried. It wasn't like Sasuke to run away unless it was with him or Naruto. Sasuke wasn't exactly trusting enough to talk with anyone else let a lone stay with anyone else. "He didn't return home last night?" he asked, panicked about what could have happened. Moving was the last thing on his mind and he could only think about how Sasuke said he needed his best friend. He didn't understand at the time why but he knew his disappearance had something to do with it.

"No I was hoping he was with you," Naruto said. His world was crashing down as all the possibilities replayed in his mind. "I'm going to call the police I need you to call any hospital you can think of. " In that moment he'd rather Sasuke got in trouble with the cops since him being in a hospital was worse. "I need to call Itachi and Kyuubi," Naruto told him before he hung up without saying goodbye.

Suigetsu was freaking out trying to figure out what the closest hospital there was. Konoha General Hospital was the closest to his house so he hoped that if he were at a hospital it would be there. "Konoha General, my name is Mary how can I help you?" an annoyed voice answered the phone. She definitely wasn't one of the nicest people.

"I'm trying to find out if someone was brought into your ER," Suigetsu tried to sound as calm as he could but he was terrified on the inside. "His name is Sasuke Uchiha," he said, not letting the woman get a word in.

"I'm sorry I can give that information unless you're family," she told him in the same tone of voice she'd answered the phone. "You never know when someone is looking to hunt someone down," she said though she didn't sound as if she truly cared. It seemed as if all she wanted to do was get off the phone.

"I'm his best friend," he told the woman. "I know more about that man than is probably healthy," he added trying to emphasize just how good of friends they were. "He's like a brother to me," he added.

"You're still not family," was her simple reply. She didn't actually sound like she cared how he felt. She didn't care that he sounded worried and scared. "Sorry," she added but he knew that she wasn't.

"Look if you want to deal with Itachi Uchiha that's fine with me," he told the woman. "But he sure as hell isn't going to be happy when he finds out you are withholding information that could make him find his little brother faster," he was getting angry and he knew throwing Itachi's name would get something. He was known for his cold demeanor that told people he could probably kill you and get away with it and not feel bad.

She sighed but it seemed that he was making progress. "Didn't know it was that Uchiha," she said as if Uchiha were a very common last name. He could hear her typing in to get the information. "He was admitted last night," she told him. "This better not get me fired," she told the man, completely annoyed that she had to deal with him.

Suigetsu didn't listen to her rather he hung up the phone knowing that he needed to call Naruto. He knew that he was lucky that the first place was where they found him because there were so many places he could have been. For all they knew Orochimaru could have kidnapped him and was being tortured. He waited for Naruto to answer the phone, which didn't take long, "Did you find him?"

"Konoha General," he replied. "I'll meet you there, call Itachi on the way," he said as he grabbed his wallet and keys. Again he hung up without saying anything further. He just wanted to get to the hospital and find Sasuke. He needed to know that he was okay because if he weren't then he didn't know what he'd do.

**NS**

"Yes Naruto," Itachi answered. He could hear Kisame whining in the background and he knew exactly what he was interrupting. "This better be important," he said. It wasn't often that Naruto called him and it usually wasn't good but he didn't want to show the worry in his voice.

"Sasuke's in the hospital," he quickly said. "I don't know what happened or how bad it is, I'm driving there right now," he said, trying to cover all of the questions he knew Itachi would ask. "He' at Konoha General," he said, trying not to let the tears fall but he knew they would once he knew what was going on. All he could do was wish that he would have reacted that night rather than wait for the morning when Sasuke didn't come home.

"I'll be right there," Itachi said, not even trying to hide the worry in his voice. The normally calm man was nowhere near being so when it came to his little brother being hurt. The younger Uchiha had been hurt enough for one lifetime and he had thought that it was over.

**NS**

Naruto had called everyone they knew. He was even surprised when Hinata came since it wasn't like her and Sasuke were that great of friends. He was sure it was probably because the date Sakura had been talking about; the one she'd postponed because Sasuke was in the hospital.

Everyone was there. The main people concerned were Naruto, Itachi, Kyuubi, Suigetsu, and surprisingly Kiba. Kiba seemed to be worried more about how Naruto and Suigetsu were handling it. None of them were taking it well even though people tried to calm them down. "Why won't they let us in the room?" Naruto paced the waiting room, making a scene in front of everyone else.

"Naruto they said he's not stable enough," Kiba reminded them. He looked at Suigetsu, whom was only looking down. He looked ready to cry but was trying to keep it together. "It's okay," Kiba said as he sat next to Suigetsu, trying to comfort the man. To his surprise Suigetsu didn't push him away, instead he let him comfort him.

"It's not okay," Suigetsu replied as he gave in and let Kiba hold him. He didn't want to fight in that moment he only wanted to know what happened to Sasuke. Perhaps the tragedy was making him more forgiving but he didn't care. It didn't matter in that moment that Kiba had been a complete ass because there was still that part of him that knew that Kiba did have a good heart even if he was an idiot. He just needed someone to comfort him and Kiba was more than happy to be that person.

"I don't like fighting with you," Kiba told him. He knew that moment probably wasn't the best time to talk about it. He knew that Suigetsu might blow up and hate him for talking about them when his best friend might be dying. "I just want to be friends again," he said. It wasn't all he wanted but he knew it was probably all he could get.

"I don't either," Suigetsu replied. He was done fighting because Sasuke's condition made him realize that time might be shorter than any of them wanted to admit. "I don't want to date you, but I do want to be friends," he said, knowing that it was a lie. He never stopped loving Kiba and he knew that if he could trust him then he'd run back to him, but he couldn't. He couldn't trust the man with his heart and he wasn't ready for another heartbreak.

Itachi wasn't any better than Suigetsu. He had both Kisame and Kyuubi trying to make him feel better. Kyuubi felt as if he were on double duty between his brother and his friend. Naruto was his main focus since Kisame still wasn't his biggest fan. "I'm going to kill whoever did this," Itachi said. He was worried about his brother and feeling homicidal toward anyone that hurt his brother.

"I'm pretty sure I know who did it," Naruto said as he finally sat down, burying his head in his hands. "I just can't believe that I didn't notice all of the signs," he said, the tears starting to flow down his face. "It was all there," he started blaming himself, "he was distant and I saw the bruises. I just didn't want to believe it."

"Orochimaru?" Itachi asked. It made him feel as if he hadn't been paying attention to his brother. He didn't know how he could have missed it either; he didn't realize that Sasuke would hide it from everyone. Between himself, Suigetsu, and Naruto he thought that he'd go to someone with his problems. "How didn't we see this?" he asked. He prided himself on being a genius and yet he couldn't even figure out that there was something wrong with his brother.

Before the talking could continue a police officer interrupted, "You guys are here for Sasuke Uchiha right?" They all nodded and he continued, "I'm officer Thompson, I just wanted to get some statements from you guys." Everyone was silent; none of them knew where to start. "Do any of you have any idea who could have done this?"

"A man named Orochimaru, I'm sure you've heard of him," Itachi said, his anger was evident. The officer seemed scared of the way he talked. Itachi could be very intimidating and the officer was seeing that first hand.

"Who found him?" Naruto asked. He wondered if it were Orochimaru's twisted way of keeping him alive just to mess with him in the future. He wanted to know the man that he either had to rip to pieces or thank depending on his involvement in what happened to Sasuke.

"Jonathan Moore," the officer. "He was a lost tourist, Sasuke's probably lucky the man got lost," he told them. "We'll be looking into him but we don't think he had anything to do with it," the man told them. The man didn't leave after finding Sasuke; he tried to put pressure onto Sasuke's head wound so he was almost positive that he had nothing to do with it.

Naruto nodded, "I know it was Orochimaru." He knew that the creep had at least something to do with it and he was sure that it was a big part. "I know there's no record of it but he used to beat Sasuke as a child and it's the only thing that makes sense. He became distant which I should have known meant the creep was back because he was acting just like he did when I first met him. Oh my god how could I have been so blind?" Naruto was breaking down and no one was going to be able to change it unless it was someone telling him Sasuke was okay. All Naruto knew was that he wanted to kill Orochimaru and he wasn't sure that he'd be able to control himself if Sasuke died.

Once the officer left Kyuubi sat next to Naruto, whom was in his own world. He was breaking inside and it felt as if no one could change that. "We were fighting when he left," Naruto told his brother. "It wasn't a big fight but what if that's the last memory Sasuke had of me?" he asked. It hurt to think that he could lose Sasuke at all, let alone when they weren't on good terms.

"He knows you love him," Kyuubi said. He was making sure to use the present tense because if he didn't it meant that he thought Sasuke was dead. He hated to see Naruto in that state and he didn't know what Naruto would do if Sasuke died. Sasuke meant the world to Naruto and Kyuubi feared that Naruto might fall apart if Sasuke were gone. He didn't know if Naruto would kill himself or just wait around to die as an empty shell of himself. One thing he was sure of was that if Sasuke was gone then Naruto would never be the same.

**TBC..**

**Okay so usually I love reviews but I got one for last chapter that just bothered me – it was from Shane whom doesn't have an account so I'll address it here – not saying anything or reporting anything about abuse doesn't mean that someone is asking for it and that is the completely wrong way to look at it and not at all what I intended…there is no excuse for abuse and it should never be looked at as being deserved no matter what the reason…perhaps you've never been abused like I hope many haven't but abuse can make a person feel worthless and scared even if they are an adult it's easy to say as an outsider looking in that a person should just do something about it but it's much different for that person that it's happening to…Sasuke didn't deserve it by not telling anyone because Orochimaru puts him back into the mindset of being that helpless abused little kid even if he denies that he feels that way – in short no one deserves to be abused the only thing that people deserve is love because if people did only love then this world would be a much better place**

**That being said, please do review **


	20. Dearly Departed

**So for those of you that read other pairings are there any pairings/fandoms you'd like to see me write for? I'm trying to venture out of my comfort zone since I think it's good to do sometimes – just one-shot pairings no multi-chapter – this can be from Naruto or other shows/movies/anime etc…if I know it I'll consider it – let me know any suggestions…for any of you that have seen & like Pitch Perfect I'm thinking about writing one for that – what do you think? It wouldn't take away from this story…**

**Can you believe only 6 more chapters after this one?**

**A lot of you are probably hating me right now since I keep leaving you hanging on if Sasuke will live but don't worry you find out in this chapter…**

**Chapter 20: Dearly Departed**

Naruto couldn't help but pace as they waited. He hadn't slept since he'd heard the news. He wouldn't sleep until he heard if he were alive. It didn't matter the news he just wanted to know. It had been a day and Sasuke hadn't woken and that scared him. Part of him was saying that Sasuke was dying and didn't want to get his hopes up, but his optimistic side wouldn't let him give up on him. He sat down, but it didn't last long as his thoughts took over and caused him to pace. At that point it was only close friends that stayed. Itachi didn't look much better than him, but he had gotten a little bit of sleep even if it wasn't much. Suigetsu was staring blankly as if he didn't feel anything. Kiba tried to get through to him but he didn't answer. It was difficult for him to think that his best friend of so many years could die thinking that he was going to leave him. Kyuubi found that he was unable to calm either one of the men that he'd came to comfort and it hurt him to see them in such a state.

The doctor walked out, but he looked concerned. It wasn't a look that Naruto liked; it was one that made his stomach in knots thinking that it could only be bad news. "He's awake," he told the group and Naruto couldn't rejoice because of the look on his face. "But there was some serious damage and he may not be fully healed, don't do anything that might cause extreme stress," he said. "Only one of you can go in at a time," he added as he looked at the group. Everyone looked at Naruto and nodded, causing the blond to follow him.

"He's going to be okay, right?" Naruto asked the doctor as they walked. He felt as if he were going to breakdown when he saw the state Sasuke was in. He didn't know if he could handle seeing the love of his life in the condition he knew that he was in.

"We're not sure yet the extent of the damage," the doctor admitted. "The scans look good but that doesn't mean that he couldn't take a turn for the worse," he said knowing that he couldn't get his hopes up. Truly he thought Sasuke would make it and be fine but he couldn't tell the man that in case things did change. He wouldn't say for sure until a few days passed.

Naruto just nodded and they walked into the room. Sasuke looked scared, which broke Naruto's heart. The man wasn't hyperveintlating but he looked like a caged animal that just wanted to run away. "Hey baby," Naruto said as he took the seat next to Sasuke.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked as he moved further toward the other end of the bed.  
"I don't know you," he was scared and looked ready to jump out of the bed and run at any moment. "Why did you call me baby?" he asked as he curled up as much as he could.

"It's me, Naruto," he said, his heart breaking even more at the thought that Sauske may not remember him. "Sasuke, I'm your boyfriend, we've been together eight years, you have to remember me," he was ready to cry. Sasuke had to remember him; he couldn't lose Sasuke.

"I think we should get you out of here," the doctor said as he saw Sasuke was starting to freak out. He pulled Naruto out of the room, hoping that it would calm the other man down. Naruto couldn't say anything but he was looking at the doctor for answers. "It's likely that it's only temporary, but for right now I think it's best we don't have you visit," he told him. "It could be hours, days, months, or even permanate damage, we can't know for sure," he hated giving bad news. "I'm going to bring his brother in to see the extent of the memory loss," he told him as he led him back to the waiting room. Everyone looked surprised to see Naruto back so soon and the way he was crying. "Itachi I need you to come with me," the doctor said and the other man quickly got up to follow the doctor.

"What is goig on?" Itachi asked as he followed him to Sasuke's room. "Why was he crying?" he asked, panicking. He knew that if Naruto was crying and leaving Sasuke's side that it couldn't be good news. "I need to know what is going on," he told him. He was trying to remain calm but finding it impossible because it related to his little brother. All he wanted to do was protect him, he dreaded thinking that there could possibly be something wrong.

"Sasuke has amnesia," the doctor informed him. "I want you to see him so I can know the full extent," he told him. "He may not remember you," he warned the man. "We don't know how long it will last or if it will ever go away but if he remembers you then we are hoping that you can help him in getting his memory back by talking to him," he said and all Itachi could do was nod.

They stood at the doorway of Sasuke's room and Itachi had to take a deep breath to calm down. The fact that Sasuke may not remember him scared him to death. "Hey Sasuke," Itachi said. He wasn't sure how to act but he knew that he couldn't act normal even if he wanted to.

Sasuke just blinked at him blankly. It was as if he were trying to find some sort of recollection of him. His heart rate picked up as he asked, "Who are you?" It was as if his mind had been swiped clean of any memory of anyone. It was worse than the doctor thought seeing that he didn't remember the only realitive he had and the fact that it was one he'd known his entire life.

"Let's get you out of here," the doctor said quickly as he watched the heart monitor speed up. Itachi looked crushed and the doctor was worried as he led the other man out of the room. "It could be temporary," he quickly told him.

"Or it may not," Itachi said, knowing that his brother may never remember him. "His head wound is obviously worse than you led on," Itachi said, angry that he was given false hope. Sasuke had been through so much and it hurt him to think that he would go through so much pain that it would cause him to forget everything.

**NS**

Sasuke sat in his bed, scared and alone. He knew it was Naruto and Itachi he just wanted to forget and talking to them wouldn't allow him to do so. Talking to them meant that the memories that he was trying to get away from would come back. He knew that something bad had happened to him to make him end up in the hospital, but he couldn't remember what it was. The doctor sent him to get scans and he could tell that there was nothing physically wrong other than the bleeding that the wound had caused. He could tell that there was no brain damage and yet he didn't remember anything that brought him there.

Naruto came back in the room, this time without the doctor. He seemed to be on edge, as if he were sneaking into the room. He quickly shut the door and looked around to see if anyone had seen him. Sasuke just watched him, scared of what would happen if he talked to him. "You have to remember me," Naruto said as he sat in the chair next to the bed.

Sasuke closed his eyes, hating to see Naruto in such a state. He wasn't going to deny that he knew him forever, just long enough for him to permanently forget what had brought him to the hospital. "Naruto I'm scared," Sasuke admitted and he saw the look in Naruto's eyes that was slightly happy and slightly sad at the same time. "I," Sasuke started as he took a deep breath, "I remember you, I'm just not ready to talk to you."

"Sasuke I swear you had me scared to death," Naruto said, part of him ready to punch him for pretending and the other part just wanting to kiss him for being okay. He grabbed Sasuke's hand, "Babe don't you ever do that to me again." He didn't know if his heart could stand the feeling it felt in that moment, "Do you know how worried Itachi is right now?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Sasuke said as he refused to look at Naruto. "I don't want to remember whatever happened to me and I think talking to you will make me remember," he told him. Naruto just got up and pulled him into a hug, trying to comfort him. He felt Sasuke start to cry, "It feels like if I forget then it's like it never happened."

"Baby, you don't have to talk yet, I just need to know that you're okay we can work on the rest later," he said, surprised that Sauske wasn't yelling at him for calling him babe or baby repeatedly. He could tell that Sasuke was closing off from him again and it was just like when he first met him, only maybe worse. It was worse because all of the walls he'd worked so hard to tear down were back in full force. The doctor walked in, looking angry that the man had snuck into his room.

"It's okay," Sasuke told him, "I remember him." The doctor looked surprised at Sasuke's quick recovery, "I always did, I just don't want to talk." He had pushed Naruto away from him and was back to being curled up in his ball. He wouldn't look at Naruto, nor would he talk any more that day.

Itachi came in and was furious that Sasuke would scare him like that. He saw all of the signs of it being Orochimaru's doing. "It was Orochimaru wasn't it?" he asked trying to get Sasuke to talk. "Just tell me Sasuke, I can see all of the signs," he said, trying not to sound as angry as he was.

"I don't remember," Sasuke said. When Itachi looked at him skeptically he said, "I really don't and I don't want to." It was then that he realized Sasuke was telling the truth. He knew that Sasuke remembered, but his brain was making it so that he didn't know in that moment. He was protecting himself from remembering because it would only cause more psychological trauma. He was so traumatized that he had blocked it away. He was scared and felt as if letting people in would spark that memory. He knew it was going to be difficult but he needed to slowly get Sasuke to remember and find a way to cope with it. He couldn't let him block them out forever, it needed to change and the only way that it'd happen is if he let himself remember and work through the healing process.

**NS**

Sakura stood at Ino's doorstep, hoping that they could finally work everything out. When the blond woman answered the door she looked like she was ready to slam it in her face. "Wait," Sakura said, "just hear me out."

Ino seemed to be debating whether or not she should let the other girl explain. She looked at what was her long time best friend and it hurt to see her looking so desperate. "Fine, talk," she said, but she didn't let her in the house. "Make it fast or I'm shutting the door," she added impatiently.

"Look I know that I screwed up but I can't believe we're letting our friendship be destroyed by a stupid mistake. I know it was really wrong of me to sleep with him and I never would have done it sober. I love Lee and you're my best friend I would never purposefully ruin both of those relationships. Seeing Sasuke in the hospital made me realize just how short life is and how I don't want this to be our last memory. I don't want us to go on through life in a fight," she went silent as she waited for a response. Sakura was ready for Ino to shut the door and cause a permanent end to their friendship.

Ino sighed, she wanted to be mad at her but she knew that she was right. Seeing the pain Naruto had been through was devastating and it made her wonder how she'd feel if Sakura were in that position. She didn't know what she'd do if Sakura were in the hospital because they'd been friends for so long that it was hard to just put that in the past. It was hard to forgive her but it might be worse if something happened to one of them while they were fighting. "Come on in," Ino said as she moved aside.

Sakura smiled and walked into the house. They both knew that they'd probably never get back to the same trust level they once had but they also knew that their friendship was important. Ino wasn't going to completely forgive her that fast, but it was a start.

**NS**

"Kabuto we have work to do," Orochimaru said as he called his minion into the room. There were a lot of unresolved things since Sasuke had been sent to the hospital. When Sasuke had become that hurt he was hoping that he'd die so that there would be no evidence. He thought about saving him just so that his fun would never end, but that meant having an eyewitness. "Did you get the video tape?" he asked as Kabuto sat in front of him while he leaned on his desk.

"Of course I did," the other man replied. "No one else will ever see it," he added. They were talking about the video from the store across the street from the crime scene. "I got it the night of," he informed his boss, "they don't even know it exists they think that the camera was broken."

"Good," Orochimaru replied. "Now we just have to take care of Sasuke," he told him. Kabuto looked unsure, helping him beat someone was one thing because they'd have to report it but killing was a whole other level. To murder someone meant a guaranteed investigation, especially if it were Sasuke Uchiha. "We need to monitor him, if they don't have him in court then much of their case goes out the window. He needs to be destroyed," he said with an evil glint in his eyes.

Kabuto nodded. He knew no matter what he'd be charged as an accomplice in either crime. Killing him meant silencing him for good and making it easier to dismiss their case with no evidence. "I agree," he said as he watched and evil smile spread across Orochimaru's face.

**TBC…**

**So this chapter was originally named I'm Not Dead but I felt it gave too much away by the title so let me know what you think…**


	21. A Place to Fall

**If you can't empathize with Sasuke in this in his battle then I'm not writing it well enough because if you see Sasuke as deserving it for not reporting then I haven't done a good enough job in delving into his mindset so that you can empathize with him and understand why he acts the way he does…Never blame the victim it only makes it worse**

**Anyway, I own nothing regarding Naruto or its characters enjoy and please review **

**Sorry it's taken so long for me to update my life has been pretty busy so hopefully I still have some readers after how long it's taken – let me know if you guys want me to start putting recaps before I start the next chapter**

**This chapter was inspired by A Place to Fall by Emphatic it's a great song and if you like rock music you really should check it out **

**Chapter 21: A Place to Fall**

**Love and compassion should be the most important things because when we lose those we leave room for hatred and violence**

Punches flew at him and he was helpless to do anything. He was paralyzed as he took each blow, each one harder than the previous. He tried to hold tears in but it wasn't working. The words "You'll always be my favorite" repeated over and over with every punch. This time it didn't stop, he didn't black out. He continued to take it as he tried to escape but found it futile.

"Sasuke," he heard someone call his name. There was no one else around but him and Orochimaru. The voice called again, this time shaking him. He woke up sweating with tears running down his cheeks. His heart was racing and he couldn't speak. It had been nearly a month since it'd happen but the dreams were as vivid as ever. He tried to suppress the memories but it wasn't working. He hadn't said anything to the cops even though they had tried. At that point the only thing Sasuke could do was collapse into Naruto's arms and cry as he tightly held onto him. "It's okay," Naruto said as he tried to comfort Sasuke. He held him close as he tried to calm him down, not sure what else he could do or say.

"I," he started but was finding words as the tears kept flowing. "I know I should have told you," he said though it was somewhat muffled from the way he was in Naruto's arms. "And maybe all of this is my fault for not saying anything but," Sasuke started but Naruto quickly stopped him.

"This is not your fault," he sternly told him. He pulled Sasuke so that he could look into his eyes, "He is a monster and you should never think that it's your fault. It doesn't matter if you told anyone or not, this is not your fault." He could see the vulnerability that Sasuke hated to show. The man had always blocked himself away from everyone; it was easier for him to do than to show his emotions.

Sasuke looked away from Naruto. He curled his legs up to his chest as if he were trying to block himself away. Being so vulnerable made him scared and curling into a ball gave him some sense of security. "Why would they believe me?" he asked in a soft voice, not making eye contact with Naruto. "Everyone in the city knows who he is and respect him so why would they believe me? I never reported before so they have no evidence of that," he said looking down.

"Baby," Naruto said as he cupped Sasuke face, making him look at him, "back then you were a scared teenager who had been beaten for years. It was hard for you to talk about back then so I understand that it's hard for you to talk about now." Naruto knew in situations such as that he couldn't be his normal self. He had to be calm and serious because it wasn't a time for jokes and it certainly wasn't time to be mad and scare him back into his shell. Naruto would be lying if he said he wasn't sad or angry that Sasuke didn't tell him, but he wouldn't let those emotions take over. He couldn't let those emotions take over especially with the state that he was in at that moment.

Sasuke frowned because Naruto was right. Orochimaru made him feel like the scared teenager he once was. He was a ghost that haunted his past and he showed up when he least expected it. When he thought he'd gotten past what Orochimaru had done he was proven wrong when he showed up and all those insecurities came rushing back. He didn't even think about asking if he wanted to talk to the police – he knew that was a decision he had to make on his own.

"Talking about it just makes it real and I don't want it to be real," he said looking down; finding anything to look at other than Naruto. "I'm not sure how much I'll be able to say but I know I should talk to the police," he said. He wasn't sure that he was completely ready for that talk but he knew that he had to eventually and the sooner the better in cases such as his. "Just promise you'll be there with me the entire time," he said quietly.

"I promise," Naruto said as he pushed Sasuke's hair out of his face. It scared him to know that he was going to hear the whole story because he wasn't sure what actually happened. Part of him was happy that he'd finally hear it because Sasuke had hidden everything from him. The other part of him was terrified about how horrible the truth may actually be. "Whenever you want to go you just let me know," he told him and Sasuke nodded.

**NS**

Naruto and Sasuke sat in a police interview room. It took some convincing but they allowed Naruto to sit in on the interview. "What made you decide to come in and talk to us today?" the detective asked as he sat across from the two. He could see the terrified look on Sasuke's face. He seemed paranoid as he looked around the room as if he were expecting something bad to happen at any moment. "You sure you're ready to talk?" he asked and received a nod in return. "You want to tell me what happened that night?" he asked after turning on the tape recorder.

Sasuke took a deep breath and looked at Naruto for a moment, wondering if it were truly a good idea to be there. Naruto gave him an encouraging smile and Sasuke turned back to the detective. "I," he started before taking another deep breath, "I had been over at my friend Suigetsu's house because Naruto and I had a fight that morning. I didn't plan on going home at first but then I realized how stupid the fight was and I wanted to get home to talk to Naruto." He bit his bottom lip as he remembered the day. He let out a shaky breath before continuing, "It was dark when I left and even though I've always hated the dark I still decided to walk home." He closed his eyes because he felt tears were ready to come out, "I," he started but found it hard to finish. "I thought I was over being afraid of him but now he's everywhere and all of my dreams are nightmares because his face keeps popping up and everything he's said and done has just started to flow back into my mind and it terrifies me," he said so quickly that it was hard to keep up. Naruto frowned because he hadn't realized just how bad it truly was. "He beat me as a kid and after college I thought it was over but when he came back I just felt like that child that couldn't stand up to him and all those feelings of security that I had finally gotten in college went out the window. It started out little by little at first just mental again but then he got physical and I just blocked everyone out because I didn't know how to deal with it again," his words were getting shaky as he thought more about everything.

"It's okay Sasuke," the detective said, feeling bad for the man in front of him. "I need to know who he is," he said, all of the information didn't mean anything if he didn't get the name of the person.

"Orochimaru," Sasuke said as he looked at the detective. When he saw the reaction of the detective it made him feel uncomfortable. The man looked surprised and in a way skeptical. "He was my guardian," Sasuke started to explain. "I never said anything because I knew I'd get the reaction you're giving me right now; that look that says that you don't believe me. No matter how much my brother tried to convince me to say something but I knew that nobody would believe some kid over Orochimaru," he looked down feeling like an idiot for saying anything. He wasn't prepared for the rejection he was feeling in that moment.

"I see," the detective said. He let out a sigh and told him, "We will investigate him regardless of whom he is." Sasuke looked at him and he knew that he didn't believe him. He understood why he wouldn't believe him; a lot of people wouldn't want to look into Orochimaru, but he wasn't like the others. He knew that the man had to be investigated regardless of any power he may have. "Please continue with what happened that night," he said as he shifted in his seat.

"I was walking down the street," Sasuke started, still skeptical, "I don't even know where he came from. One minute I was alone and the next he was there. I tried to just keep going but he slammed me against the wall of the closest building. For some reason I just couldn't fight back no matter how much I wanted to. He started to punch me and then all I remember is by head hurting and trying not to pass out." Naruto could see the emotions further building in Sasuke so he grabbed his hand, trying to reassure the other man.

"I think that's enough," Naruto said as he saw that Sasuke was about to breakdown. He knew that Sasuke had probably gone way beyond his comfort level in how much he was telling the detective. "You know where to find us if you have more questions," he said as he stood up, pulling Sasuke with him. The man just nodded, knowing that he got all of the information he was going to get. Sasuke was silent as they walked to the car. "You okay?" Naruto asked. "You did really good in there," he told him, grabbing his hand as they walked.

"I will be," was Sasuke's only answer. It felt good to finally tell but it also shook him up to relive what he had gone through. He looked at Naruto, not sure that he could have made it through the whole ordeal without him. "I just know it's going to be a long process if this all this actually goes to trial and I don't know what I'd do if it does and he wins," he admitted.

"He won't win," Naruto said, though he knew he couldn't promise that he wanted to make Sasuke feel better. He'd probably end up killing Orochimaru if the man got off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. "I promise," he said and Sasuke nodded, still unsure of everything.

**NS**

Suigetsu sat in his living room. He couldn't help but think about everything that had been going on. From Sasuke to Ryuu to Kiba, it was all messing with his mind. He had agreed to be friends with Kiba, or at least to try, but he wasn't sure if he could be just friends with the other man. It was wrong to still have feelings for him but he couldn't help it. No matter how much he didn't want them to be there the feelings still surfaced when he saw Kiba.

Then he thought of Ryuu and how it wasn't fair to him. He truly did like Ryuu, but he wasn't sure if he could ever love him the way that he should. He wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to give him his heart because he knew that Kiba still had a piece of it. The man was sweet, caring, understanding, and everything else he should want, but he didn't and he couldn't understand why.

Then there was Sasuke. Sasuke would always be his best friend and he truly was the one thing that made it so Suigetsu didn't know if he could leave. Even though he may not have turned to him about Orochimaru, Suigetsu knew that Sasuke needed his support. He didn't know that he could leave when Sasuke was in such a fragile state of mind. He had never felt so conflicted in his life and he knew it would probably hurt either way.

Suigetsu sighed as he leaned back on his couch. He was so torn and his mind wouldn't stop racing. Moving had already been a difficult decision to make and after everything that had happened it had become nearly impossible. As he looked around the room and saw boxes piled up he frowned because it made him think that maybe what happened was a sign that he was never meant to move in the first place. It was a ridiculous thought but it was one he couldn't shake.

**NS**

Sasuke hadn't gotten out of bed since he'd gotten home. Naruto was worried that going to the police was too much for him to cope with. He was just staring at the wall, no noise in the background and saying nothing. Naruto just watched him from the doorway, cautious of what he should do. He was worried that Sasuke was going to put his walls back up and not talk about the subject anymore. That was exactly why he'd called Itachi. He knew that Sasuke would kill him for involving his brother but he had a feeling that he needed to. He watched as Sasuke answered his phone and he knew that it had to be Itachi. "Hello?" Sasuke said in a monotone voice that sounded as if he were empty inside.

"_Naruto told me what happened today," _Itachi said, getting straight to the point. Sasuke glared at Naruto after Itachi told him. Naruto took that look as his cue to leave, part of him just happy that the other man was showing some form of emotion. _"I should have heard it from you,"_ Itachi continued. _"I know it's hard to talk about but I was thinking that it might be time you go back to seeing a therapist," _Itachi said when Sasuke didn't say anything in return. _"I'm serious Sasuke,"_ he added.

"I don't know if I can," Sasuke told him, "I'm not sure I can go back to talking about what happened or how I feel about it." He let out a deep breath knowing that his brother wasn't going to stop until he told him he'd at least think about it. "The only thing I know for sure is that I don't think that I can feel completely safe ever again," he admitted as he pulled his legs further into him, curling into a fetal position as he lay down.

"_Even more reason for you to go back to a therapist," _Itachi pointed out. He knew that he was probably pushing the boundaries at that point, but someone needed to. Sasuke needed a push in the right direction if he was ever going to get out of the feelings that had over come him since the incident. _"Just think about it," _Itachi requested, knowing that it would probably be all he'd get out of his brother.

"I'll think about it," he told him. "But first I have to go kill a certain blond," he told his brother, hanging up on him before he could say anything else. Sasuke threw his phone to the side as he got out of bed in search of his boyfriend. "Naruto," he called out as he walked toward the kitchen, knowing that was probably where the other man was. When he saw Naruto at the table, looking as if he were waiting for Sasuke to search for him. "Why would you call my brother?" Sasuke asked angrily. "If I wanted to involve him I would have.

"You've been in a trance ever since we'd gotten home. I just thought that you needed him and he needed to know. You needed to talk to us and I could tell that you weren't going to call him," Naruto replied calmly. He didn't want to start another fight, though he knew that Sasuke was already too mad for it not to be a fight.

"I'll talk to him when I'm ready," Sasuke said, glaring at his boyfriend the entire time. "I don't need you to help," he added. He probably did need his help to cope, but he wasn't going to admit that he was weak. He wanted to deal with everything on his own, though that had proven not to be the best idea. Though Naruto had told him it wasn't his fault, he couldn't help but think that everyone else thought it was. It was as if people thought he was to blame for Orochimaru being a psychopath. Deep down he knew that Orochimaru probably would have tried, and perhaps succeeded, either way, but the looks some people gave him made him feel as if he were at least partially to blame.

He had a response to that, but he knew better than to say it because it would make Sasuke run more. He knew that Sasuke already felt as if he was to blame for not saying anything and Naruto didn't want to further that thought. Sasuke was the victim and he wasn't about to blame the victim. "I want to help. I want to be that person that you can go to like I used to be. I don't want you shutting me out anymore," he told him as he got up and moved closer. Sasuke started to retreat but Naruto gently grabbed him. "Baby," he said softly, earning himself a glare from Sasuke, "I love you. Don't shut me out."

Naruto pulled Sasuke further into his arms, not wanting to ever let go again. "I love you too," Sasuke said quietly, which made Naruto smile. Sasuke relaxed into Naruto's arms, feeling a little safer whenever Naruto was there. They didn't need any more words; they let themselves enjoy the moment.

**TBC…**

**This chapter was very Naruto/Sasuke centric…it wasn't initially set out to be that way but hopefully it turned out well anyway…. **

**I'm seriously considering branching out to other fandoms – not just Naruto, but can be Naruto – tell me what you'd like to see **


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